Board Meeting 5/5/2026

001Okay. Welcome to the meeting of the Canyons Board of Education. Today is May 5th, 2026, and we're meeting at the District Office located at 9361 South 300 East in Sandy, Utah. First item on the agenda is item A. We are going to combine item A, B, and C into one presentation. Yeah, they all they all flow together, so So, I'm going to Let me read them. Let me read them. The annual report from the Sex Education Instruction Committee and resources, the biennial review of the Sex Education Policy state statute, the biennial review of specified county statistics, and this will be by Jesse Miller, Instructional Support Administrator. All right. Well, thank you very much, and yes, all three of those are mine. Um, I they will be a little out of order. I'm going to start

002with the review of the Instructional Policy because this is a little disorder and it kind of preludes everything else. So, Policy 600.05 is our Sex Education Instruction Policy. It was adopted in 2018, and that was the last time it was really revised, either. So, no new updates or proposed changes have really been made since then. We have reviewed this as um required every 2 years, so we did that in 2020, 2022, and 2024 as part of the biennial report and as part of our annual report for you as the board. There are five sections to the policy. The first is definitions. The second um section or administrative regulation has three parts to it. So, the first part in this policy is that students and parents parents have to give permission for their students to take

003part in sex education instruction as part of their health course. Um all of our teachers send those permission slips out before the um section in the health course that requires sex education instruction. So, that is done in all of our schools, all of our classrooms. This is also done in some of our elective courses that have sex education or um human development as part of them. So, our health is the major one, but there are other elective courses The instruction portion under this the the main point is in Utah and in Canyons School District abstinence first is the start of instruction. And that's that's kind of the main purpose of it. Although we do talk about STIs and prevention of STIs the beginning of all of it and the consistency through is abstinence. And then

004the next part of this is all complaints and violations should start at a school. And then if it gets escalated, it comes to the district. That's the first portion of this. Just so you all know, we haven't had any that have come to the district this year nor did we have one last year. Our teachers do a phenomenal job and our parents do an awesome job of saying, "Yes, I want my student in here." or take an alternate course or an alternate assignment during this piece. So, but they're really good at that. The next portion is we are required to have a district sex education instruction committee which has to be made up of administrators from the building, um, health educators, and parents. We do have board members on that. That is optional based on

005the state. For us, it's just a practice that we've always had in place. Um, so we're required to have this instruction committee, and what that committee does is reviews instructional materials, resources, and presenters for medical accuracy, and make sure that it meets all of our standards for health and sex education instruction. The next portion of the policy is That just went out. Educator training. Our we're required to provide training for our educators every 3 years, and they're required to update their training. The state of Utah has a fantastic online course, which is where we send our teachers to have to take that training, but we also provide training during district day. And for [clears throat] our new teachers during during KEYS, which is our induction programming Canyons. And then you all are required every 2

006years to review the policy, the county data, and any pornography complaints, which we'll cover today. And the last part of this policy is the portion that says as a district, we have to provide a maturation program for our fifth grade students and guardians. And so we have a really great presenter, um, Karen Kemp, who who provides all of our in-person presentations. And she's been wonderful because she does the in-person presentations for our boys and girls, and includes all of the guardians, which is, if you've not been to one, you should. It's interesting to watch all the kids be there. But if we have parents and students who are unable to attend, she's also provided her recorded sessions. And we send that out to every elementary school that can send it out to parents. And sometimes

007it's because parents and students can't attend. Sometimes because because it is like a it's a group presentation, not every fifth grade student is ready to be part of a group to hear this information, but they are ready to hear the information. So, she's she provides that for us. So, that is just a rundown of the policy. I do have one recommendation that I'd like to work with Jeff. I know he's presenting a whole bunch today, but I'd like to work with Jeff and the policy committee. There are two portions in the policy that I think probably just need some clarification changes to language. Um but I would like to propose that for Jeff and the policy committee to work on. First, to see if what I've my recommendations are needed, and two, if they are,

008to work through that policy committee and Jeff to make the changes. So, that is the first portion. Second portion is the sex education instruction committee. So, this is an annual review of what the committee has done and any proposals or recommendations they have for materials. Every year, our committee um we schedule two meetings, one in the fall and one in the spring. We have yet in the last, I believe, 3 years had a fall committee meeting because requests for materials and resources just haven't come in. And I think that speaks really well to two things. Our teachers are using the instructional materials that are outlined, and the bank of instructional materials that we have approved have been good enough and robust enough to meet the needs of our teachers and our students. So, we do

009meet in the spring because in the spring we cover both any curriculum that has come in or resource requests. We also cover the county data as well. Um and then we prepare for this presentation. This year and every year in the beginning of the school year in October of this year, we get verifications from speakers like our maturation program speaker um of whether or not they've made any adjustments in their presentations or the resources. We haven't had any adjustments this year, so we didn't have to review any of those materials. We also do a call for resources, whether that's speakers or curriculum requests, and that prompts what we will use in the agenda for our sex education instruction committee. Again, this year we only had to hold a spring one because we didn't have any

010adjustments in presentations and we didn't have any new materials until later in the year. So, we met on April 2nd, and this is the first time in since I've had this position where I didn't facilitate this meeting. Um thank you, Amber, for facilitating this meeting. Uh my son was in the art show and we had a whole bunch of people come down and celebrate that. So, I did miss out on the actual meeting, but I did organize it. So, thank you, Amber. In that, we go through some of the same things, what the purpose is for the committee, why the parents are there, why they're an important part of this uh committee and our district, and then we go through the local data and any of the materials that we have for review. This year,

011we had two materials that we reviewed, got feedback from the committee, and are will be proposing for adoption. So, in this meeting, it's just a heads-up this will be coming. Um we will for the proposed one of these, we will provide those resources at the front desk for review. That will be the Everfi. And then a consent agenda will be coming in the future if and when that's ready. So these are the two proposed for both middle and high school. There's two levels of this. Is the Goodheart-Willcox human development and relation- relationship textbook. Now our health textbook, which is currently the Goodheart-Willcox text, the version that we have is aging out and they're not supporting that 2017 version anymore. So we've reviewed and will be updating to the 2025 version. This is a supplemental text

012that has that's pulled out that covers human development and relationships. So the sex education instruction portion. The main textbook has the rest of the standards for health. So there's one for middle and one for high. And then we have what is called Everfi is the program or platform. And one of their instruction manuals or modules is called the character playbook building healthy relationships. Now this does have there's an online option which is videos, but there is an offline version and the offline version can be fully done covering the exact same stuff without use of computers. So a teacher would have options either way that fits for their classroom. So those would be the two proposed materials that the committee reviewed. Make sure that it covers all of our standards. Make sure that it covers the

013standards for health and sex education instruction and will be proposing for adoption to use the board later. Now we're on to part three. This is a little weird cuz there's three sections and I keep waiting for questions, but we're we'll hold those to the end, I guess. The last part is the review of local county data. So, this is every 2 years we go through. I linked this because this is a hefty report. There's a lot in there. And I've provided two tables just so we can look at overall data, but then I've got some key takeaways for this. So, this first table lists out all of the major areas in Utah and the case numbers for the three biggest sexually transmitted infections that are tracked. So, that's chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. And so, this

014is a comparison. So, you can see where we as Salt Lake County compare to other areas in Utah. Next, and I'll talk about this in a second. I pulled out the chlamydia rates by gender and age. You'll notice that between 15 and 24, those two age groups, chlamydia is the top sexually transmitted infection in those two age groups. And the reason I pulled this out, obviously, is cuz that affects students that would be in our schools. But, here are some key takeaways from the entirety of that uh report, which you're more than welcome to dive into, but these are the key takeaways. So, first off, Utah has fewer STIs, sexually transmitted um infections, reported than most other states. I think that's that's a win. Yay! We should be We should be happy as the state

015of Utah for that. Um it's it's I think it's a pretty big deal. Um that has a lot to do with a lot of things, but I think that's a a good number and a a good takeaway. This is maybe obvious, but more than 80% of all of those STIs cases reported are here on the Wasatch Front, but that's also where our major areas of uh growth are and most of our people. The next one is the reason I pulled out that one before. So, chlamydia females have higher rates of chlamydia in our state than males. Males have higher rates of gonorrhea and syphilis. And the next key takeaway is is this. Individuals 15 to 24 have the highest rates for chlamydia. So, our sex education instruction teaching students about STIs, prevention, abstinence is an

016ongoing thing and an important thing. But, it does have something to do with the low rates that we have in comparison to other states in the US. Um this was a fairly big thing. I thought it was important to pull out. Congenital syphilis, which is syphilis that is transmitted from uh a mother that's infected to an unborn child during birth or pregnancy, that has increased significantly since 2019. That's That was just something that popped out and I thought that's fairly big. Um so, that's a takeaway. And the next is just what we How can we prevent STIs? How can we keep this going down? And the recommended strategies are have been around forever. It is using contraception, condoms specifically, consistently and correctly, which we do not teach in our sex education instruction courses, limiting the

017number of sexual partners, practicing abstinence, and then being open about STIs. Like this this is something that is occurring. We need to be talking about it when it occurs. I did link to the full report for you if you'd like to take some time later or if you've already looked at it. And then I'll bounce into the adolescent birth data. So, um here's our breakout of the major areas in Utah and the birth rate. I've also broken it or they've also broken it up by race and then ethnicity. This is the more important graph I thought. So, from that I pulled out the cities that we have schools in and students. And these are major areas that they report on. And you'll notice that Midvale is at 16 per 1,000 females. However, that down arrow

018means that it's gone down since the last report, which is awesome. Sandy Center, which is probably it's pretty much this area, 7.3. That has gone down since the last report 2 years ago. Draper is at 2.6, which is also gone down from the last report. And those with asterisks, according to the data, they either don't have enough the numbers are large enough to uh publish without you know, outting a person or there was a a pretty big deviation. But overall, this is pretty good news, I think. This is um the birth rate or the yeah, birth rate is going down in our area. So, that could be attributed to a lot of things, but I'm going to attribute part of it to our health teachers and the sex instruction that our students get. Um last

019one with key takeaway, it's continuing to go down in Utah. So, from 2018, we were at 13.1 as a state. It's now at 8.2. So, as a state, we're going down as well, trending down, I should say. Um adolescent birth rate has been lower than the US overall in the past decade, which before that was actually we were much higher than that. So, we as a state are trending down, and that's a great thing. The last and final set of data is the child protective services and sexual abuse. And I've put the date data here, but there's a couple of things that I'd like to point out on the next slide. Well, this slide first. So, our schools, whether that's teachers, whether that's principals, we are still a pretty big source of reports, because we

020see these kids, all of our kids, every day, all of the time. And so, it's important to have education for our adults as well as our students on prevention, and then support if something happens, because our adults in our buildings do see these cases and are often times the people who are reporting and about 20% of those come from from schools. So, that's a fairly big thing, and I think we take it very seriously as adults in education, and I think that we do a good job of that. Next, and I wanted to point this out. I mean, obviously, all of this is child abuse data, so everyone's under 18. But, you'll notice that the areas, it doesn't matter what age group it is, pretty much it's equal across all of those. So, our high

021school students, those that are in middle school or elementary, the rate is about the same of of reports. But, good news, and I think this was um oh, the third bullet down, of the confirmed reports of child abuse, um they confirmed victims did not experience repeated maltreatment within 12 year 12 months of DCFS services. So, when DCFS is involved, the repeat events is much lower. And I think that is also part of the reporting and making sure that our students and families get the support they need in these cases. Um This is some more of the same data, and so I'll jump to the very last one, which is disciplinary issues categorized as pornography in Canyons School District. So, based on data from Discipline Dashboard, >> [snorts] >> for our year up till now, '25

022to '26, this school year, we've had seven um offenses categor- categorized as pornography. That's all. Two, one. That's still too many. I should back it up. That's too many. But, it's still low. Um high school level, there were two reports in Discipline Dashboard, there were two in middle school, and there were three in elementary. Um I can't remember all of the details of these cuz I didn't look through every bit of the details, but they were on personal cell phone devices, those that were reported. And so, that that is something to say with with devices that we have in schools, those that are tied to pornography have been personal devices. So, Yeah, so that would just be reported by someone who witnessed someone using that or phone. Okay, so it's not like they're connecting to

023the Wi-Fi and where it's automatically flagged. So this might be um students who report seeing it on the bus and then investigation happens. Or um teacher who sees it in the classroom or in the hall and an investigation happens. But yeah, so that's it's based on reports of it occurring. And that is it for the three sections. So I'd be happy to answer questions if you have them. Okay, thank you so much. Uh board, do we have any questions or comments? Um this is number Thank you. Lots of work went into this, I know. Uh my question is that book that we're looking at the textbook? >> Yes. Will we have um as a board when we're looking to approve it, will we have samples Yes. online or Um it will be the hard copy

024and I can provide I have I only have one copy from the publisher. I can get more. Um but I had planned on providing it to the front desk like we have our other textbooks for review. Um we do have digital and I can provide the board with the access codes for that as well and they are both the same. I mean the material is the same. So I can do that. Great. And then the book and then the book is so that parents can come and look and review that. And we will send a message to parents. Yeah. Yeah, and we'll go through the process of that review, give time for parents to give feedback if they have any before I bring it to the board or consent agenda. Great. And what's your timeline

025are you thinking? Um we after this meeting, I think it's 2 weeks or how long do we keep it open? I don't have a timeline on that. Um I would like to have it approved and ordered by mid-June. I mean, so that gives us about 6 weeks between now and if the approval happens, being able to order it to have it for our teachers for the district day because if it's adopted, if you all approve it, that's when we would train our teachers on the new portions of it because um we do have to do this integration much better now for teachers, but the overall book has remained the same. Okay. So, then maybe we can get that email with the codes fairly soon then. I can do about 4 weeks. Okay. Yep. You only

026had a hard copy of the high school level. You might want to grab the middle school one. I do and they have sent me one, so I I'll provide that to >> would both be there and they would review it here. They wouldn't be checking it out taking it home because otherwise we'd lose it. That and that's how we've done it with our other textbooks for other curriculum and content. >> excellent product. Awesome. Thanks. I'm actually on the committee and got to go through that. Oh, sorry. I get the impression that part of why they had to update it is actually to reflect some of the changes that kids are experiencing with cell phones. Interpersonal relationships with other kids. So, it was actually interesting when I went through the online materials. Like it kind of

027walked students through how to be able to emotionally deal with things that are uncomfortable. Like whether it's being left out or there's triangulation between friends, sometimes by accident. Like how do you approach someone? How do you talk about it? It was actually interesting for me as a mom because I was like I have not talked with my kids about any of this with cell phones actually. So, I welcome parents looking at it because I think it actually cultivates some good conversations and things to consider because when I was thinking about it, I was like they're 100% correct. These kids are on phones all the time. I mean, hopefully they're not at school, but like is it a massive part of their life? And there's this whole other like world of etiquette that's kind of emerging

028or not emerging or not being talked about that needs to be talked about cuz they are being significantly impacted by what's happening there. Anyway, so I was kind of I was grateful. I walked away actually with a hearty appreciation for it. Great. Thank you. Excellent. Okay, any other comments? Okay, well thank you everybody. >> All right, thank you everybody. Look forward to it in 2 years. >> [laughter] >> I would like to see you guys on some other things besides this topic. But I was going to say, I know this is your favorite assignment. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. You guys did a really good job with it. We'll try to find something else for you to talk about. He's going, "No, no, no, no, no, no." Okay, our next item is item B and

029it is strategic planning focus group access and opportunity and Paula Graham, the director of federal and state programs, will be presenting this and >> lean on the chair to get I just want to remind the board that at 6:30 we have the um recognition of the student advisory council. So I'll be very fast. >> how we do. She told us she had it down to what, 10 minutes? I think I can be under 10. Yeah, she she said she thought she could do it. It all depends on if you have questions. If you don't stop her, I'm done in 10. Um so thanks for giving us the opportunity to kind of share what we've looked at and talked about this year. This is who's on our committee and see look let's go through those. And

030this is just um where we've kind of focused is looking at those opportunities and experiences that all of our students have um working at parent communication, parent engagement. We've talked a lot about that and then looking at equitable access. So we are one of the groups our our focus group doesn't actually get to look at specific student groups and so I put a link on this slide in the presentation and I also hopefully in your folder you had a handout about that, but we look at a lot of data. Um and just over the last 5 years kind of looking as our school population or as our district population has kind of gone down we have seen that um interestingly enough our advanced learner numbers have increased. Our special ed's kind of remained steady, but

031those students that we're losing a lot of really tend to be um a high percentage of our multilingual learners or then students that we're losing have a high percentage within that group of multilingual learners as well as our McKinney-Vento learners and some of the McKinney-Vento students. Some of that um we kind of think just as in general conversations not actual data, but you know, we've we've just priced people out of our district and so that's definitely impacting those student groups. But because of all the data we kind of created a little timeline which made me very happy. Um I like a little structure. Um to just kind of talk about those different things and kind of guide our discussion so that we could be more pointed in what we were looking at instead of trying

032to looking at everything every every time we met. Um our four kind of things that we focused on this year um student access and supports, educator development, parent engagement and um specifically looking at kind of transitions. And I'm not quite sure why it came across that way, but and then equitable distribution um looking at how we're sharing those resources across those things. So student successes things that we talked about um the AVID expansion specifically in the feeder feeder system has been a we think a real success this year. I don't know if you were able to go to the AVID showcase at Eastmont, but it were any of you able to go to that? We missed it, but there are people who can raise their hands that went, and you should talk to them because

033it was amazing. Um some of the students' stories and the teachers' stories, and it's for those of us who've been able to just even drop into the professional development that they're doing around avid. Listening to those discussions those staffs are having is is just inspiring and exciting. So, if you weren't able to attend the one at Eastmont, we do know that um Glacier Hills is having one November 17th. And I will be sending out >> Jesse's sending out an invite, so that we all have it on our calendars and make it. It turns red. >> [laughter] >> I didn't I didn't invite Karen. I know. I gave him grief already, guys. I did. I gave him grief. So, anyway, we would we would love invitations. Look at that, Jesse. Something other than six said. >>

034[laughter] >> Look how quickly we made that happen for you. >> [laughter] >> We got 18 and efficient. If you talk to those schools that have been implementing that, they're seeing less teacher turnover, they're seeing higher student achievement, and it's just really exciting to see what's happening there. Um we've also made some adjustments with our ABS classrooms, and that's showing some really positive things um with boundary changes, shifts. We might be seeing more, but that's kind of one of the things we look at. And then our teen centers this year have really we started to collect some data. We've still got some kinks to work out with our data collection, but um we're we're seeing that that a lot of really good things are happening. And just as a reminder, we do have four physical

035locations for our teen centers. That's at Hillcrest, Jordan, Brighton, and at Diamond Ridge. At our other two high schools, Alta and Corner Canyon, we didn't have actual space to dedicate to a teen center, but we do have those services, and we're working to really better align those. Um our teen centers on the far right just kind of that structure. What we're looking at is access to food, um, whether it's food bags or the food pantry, hygiene supplies, clothing, showers, washer, dryer, wellness space, and telehealth. Brian's department was able to get telehealth in all of our high schools. Um, you can see that we items. So, we're asking them to kind of track not who comes, but just how many kids are going through that through those centers each day. Um, and what items or services

036they're accessing. Um, so we've got really good information from two of our high schools, some information from another one. Diamond Ridge is doing it on a different form, and so that's part of our little bumps that we're trying to work out. But, the data we do have shows we've had almost 20,000 visits. Um, so that's a lot of kids moving through there. Um, 44 showers this year that we were able to track. Um, 30 437 kids using that space to study. Um, 115 using laundry facilities, and 262 were more wellness visits. Um, so so we've got a lot of things happening in those centers, and it just highlights that we do have a need, um, for that, and that our our staffs are doing a really nice job providing these services [clears throat] and helping

037those kiddos. Um, pro- teacher teacher professional development. This is one of the things I think our district, well, as a committee, we think our district really does an exceptional job. Um, shout out to our ISD department, but we start with the elevated teaching summit last year. That's the one that we do in June. We had over 900 participants. And so we had teachers there learning, we had teachers presenting, administrators learning, and some administrators presenting. Like it's just an amazing thing, but it's in red because this is one of those things that legislative session cut. So, um our our department's going to work on putting together kind of an impact information bit for all of us so that we can help advocate with our legislators to rethink that. We also like you know, we have the

038Peaks training safety care um C-TAS Academy BLT trainings. We have specialized trainings for teachers in the in our area, special education, multilingual learners, advanced learners. And upcoming training, we've got our digital teaching and learning or elevated teaching summit, the um elementary and secondary math training on the new curriculum. And again, we'll have our new teachers go through the Peaks. Um so, that's pretty outstanding, we think. Um with engaging parents, we've um kind of came up with this little definition on the right. Um meaningful parent and engagement is purposeful two-way communication and collaboration between families and schools that builds trusting relationships and supports the academic, social, and emotional success of every student. So, we were really excited about our definition. That took surprisingly longer than I think we thought it would, but we got there. And

039um what we want to continue looking at is kind of just how that actually lays out. Um we have what we would call like good, better, or best practices. And um I gave you the one link and hope or or page if you looked at the printed version, but of what that might look like on the elementary. So, that's our initial draft for an elementary kind of structure of engagement. Um we want to complete that for our middle and high schools, and then work with our principals to make sure that's workable and kind of then push that out over the next little bit, next year, let's say. Um what we did come to realize as we kind of were working through this and trying to get some parent Well, I'll talk about this probably in

040another slide, so I'll skip that. Um, while we do some really great things, we also noted some things that we want to continue looking at. One is just that achievement gap, which also shows up with our attendance concerns, and that these impacted populations of students are gone more and not making as much progress. So, we want to kind of look at that. Another concern that as we looked at data with parent engagement, we don't have a lot of really solid data pieces. Um, what we do have indicates that and this is not a shock, I don't think, to anyone, but elementary parent-teacher conferences, we got 96% of parents that are engaged in that. In the middle school, we're looking closer to 40%, and then in the high school, that dwindles down to 9 to 17%.

041So, we want to kind of look at different ways to kind of improve that. Um, so data and assessment, some big pieces that we wanted to look at, that digital teaching and learning funding impact, that's a big thing for us to kind of continue to advocate for and see if we can't make some progress getting that back. Participation demographics, so looking at one of the things we know is that students who are engaged in extracurricular activities are more successful in school. We just don't have a great way that we're tracking that. So, look at the demographics, look at which populations are really participating. So, that's on our list to to look into. And then like I said, that parent survey, getting parent information, um, we do have those questions on the C test survey, but

042we don't even have what was it, like 2 or 3% of our high school and middle school parents that even respond. And it wasn't even that great in elementary, so that's that's a to-do. Um with our teacher professional development, besides the application, we're going to continue doing the things that we do. Um this year's come upcoming focus, you can see we have ongoing trainings, but the upcoming focus is math curriculum. When we're doing a new curriculum, we've got the cumulative system, which is the new student system to train people on. And then with multilingual learners, we're looking at implementing a new platform, um information platform. And then our secondary schools, we're looking at doing some task force work, which would work under the BLT, [clears throat] to really maybe highlight and spotlight what what things

043as individual schools can be doing to support their ML learners. Um with student specific supports, looking at our freshman, right? That's where we start to see that really kind of change with attendance and with achievement. But looking at maybe um some kind of programming with um either orientation and or the advisory period that we have in our high schools. Um we've got an attendance committee that Brian Dr. McGill is leading, um to kind of look at that district attendance and what things we can maybe be doing and put putting supports in place to help our students because if they're not in school, they're not learning and accessing that. Um so, it doesn't matter how great we have how great teachers are, right? If we're doing these things if the kids aren't coming. And then one

044of the things that I was really advocating for and our committee is kind of advocating for as well. As we look forward, we do have um with all of our high schools, um what we would call multilingual assistants and McKinney-Vento assistants, but assistants that really help those students who are in the some of these groups that are being underrepresented. Um we we really wondered if with the Innovation Center right as we're developing some of those specific programs, getting an advocate That's about as like we're still thinking about those elements, but an advocate to work with identifying and addressing those barriers for those impacted students. Um, we don't want to wait till the end of the Innovation Center's opened to get that done. We want to kind of do it now, so we're building those supports

045and building those pathways, strengthening um, the students access to that, not only to the Innovation Center, but also to the CTE pathways, because those can be completed there at the school as well. Um, so so really looking at that more specifically with our kids. With parent engagement, we talked about the C test survey um, and then with our feedback systems, but we want to kind of work with IT and communications to get some better structures in place and capture that parent feedback about hey, I'm as engaged as I want to be and it's great. Or I'm really looking for different pathways or I'm really unhappy with the pathways that are there. We just don't have besides anecdotal information, we don't really have strong ways or robust ways to get that information. So, we want to

046work on that this coming year and then finish those engagement frameworks. And that's us. Great. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, well, do you guys have any questions? Uh, Mr. Adam. So, you mentioned wanting more parent-teacher conference engagement. Are you wanting it so that the numbers look better or because I can only go to so many meetings where my child just wants me to say hi to the teacher and they're like, oh, it's great having them in class. We're not that concerned with the numbers. What we're concerned with is that's really our only solid and it's not even super solid, but it's our only really data piece that's giving us how what parent engagement looks like. So, it's the bigger parent engagement picture we're concerned about, not just parent-teacher conference, if that makes sense.

047Yeah, I just cuz yeah, you heard what I just said. >> I'm good. And then yes, the only thing that I would just throw general caution to is survey overload because um we get too many surveys, and then if the surveys are more than a few questions, then I just stop. Yes. One thing we talked about is that parents would have the opportunity to just answer one question whenever they come into the building. If it's a QR code, or like if they're sitting there waiting for like an assembly, like their kid star student, whatever, or they're waiting, if there was some way if there's some way we could just ask one question. Originally, we talked about having an iPad at the front desk if when they come into the building, would you be willing to

048answer this one question, just one. But, it's difficult because, you know, we haven't really arrived at how to do that. I know Paula has been talking to communication a bunch, but there is survey overload, and there is a lot of surveys that are sent out with very little participation. So, the challenge then becomes how can we involve more parents, and the thought, you know, which I think is a good one, is just one question rather than a lot or several, just one question, and we could cycle it through every quarter. It's just okay, what are the things we're trying to learn. But, how to roll that out and how to captivate people people are in a hurry. We're just trying to think of something that would be quick that, you know, and captivate like, you

049know, an audience that's already there. So. I appreciate your efforts. >> [laughter] >> I would say many of the things that I'm sure roaming around in your mind are things as a committee we're like, yeah, but okay, but we want okay, we can do the okay, but that hits this and yeah, there's that balance of over survey and over surveying the same people every month or how do we get a broader perspective? And yeah, so we're That's why that that's a to-do. We're working on that. Mrs. Oak? Okay. I don't know if this is going to make sense. You guys may have already discussed it, so I apologize, but like in an era where my kids inform me that I'm old because they use Facebook, um and the email feels antiquated compared to a lot

050of other things. I just wonder whether or not we're surveying in a way that is even approachable for the younger generation of parents. Like I think a lot of them like they have I mean, to for instance, I do think like Parent Square is really a big step up in how we chose to communicate with parents, right? It's a much easier interface. It's definitely, you know, going across different language barriers and helping Is there something that exists like a pop-up? Like when someone goes to access something like that, that they fill out answers to three questions. I don't know Do you know what I'm saying? Something that from an interface digitally is much easier to access and frankly is more appealing visually. I mean, cuz they are being thrown like I'm at the point that

051if somebody sends me newsletters with links embedded in email, I might flag it for later and I never get to it. Do you know what I mean? And so how do we like I don't know how much research there is out about some of that? I mean, we've received training on different generations and and some of how they function and I just don't think we're hitting it for the younger parents. Okay. And as stated by, you know, it's demonstrated by the fact that they're not involved in PTA, they're not involved in some of those other things. What do we need to do to change our Sorry, the Chinese word is coming to Our way of thinking to shift into the way that they see or interact with things. Yes. How's that? Um I mean two

052specific spots we've talked about. One is parent-teacher conferences, which you saw what percentages people are there, but those people are often waiting outside of classroom for a little bit. So, going back to what Holly mentioned, just kind of maybe a QR code like the question of the month that we have a QR code that just changes the question every month. Um we've also talked um just another place is like when we do board meetings or when we do um C S D T V. I was going to say C T E T V, but C S D T V. Um like there's wait time and maybe we have the QR code there. So, we'll have to do that. So, we are kind of in that brainstorming like how do we reach people and how can

053we get better feedback? It's it's brought with some challenges, but we're learning something out. I don't know if that's something that we need to route communications in with, you know, like is it something that we have something pull up on Instagram and few slides like how do you feel about your child's school? Then it has like a QR code. You can fill out three questions. I don't know. In our June meeting, we're actually going to have um somebody from communications come and kind of talk through some options and brainstorm and Cuz like in the world of Paula, everything is maybe a little more simple when I when I go to technology, well, of course a computer can do this. And then you go to IT and they're like, Paula, that that actually doesn't work like

054that. So, we do need to bring those those people in so they can help us really navigate that in a more thoughtful way. Thank you. Um thank you for the work of your committee and I'm really glad we did talk about this idea of surveying parents at our board round table and the board was supportive. So, thank you for working on that. We'll keep working on that. We'll figure out. Okay. Thanks, Sandy. Thank you so much. Okay, I don't know if we can do this, but we're going to try. Um okay, policy updates. Unless I'm not going to read all these policies anyway. >> Policy updates are posted on assistant leader. All right, so this says legislative and other updates. To make this simple, I'm going to go through the legislative ones first. About 5

055minutes. And then I'm just going to swing back for questions, okay? So this one, board governance is not legislative, but as you recall, there was a previous meeting where we were discussing coming to the meeting if you're not present. So we proposed some language that allows a board member to communicate with the presiding officer in advance and also be recognized by the officer for the purpose of casting a vote. If you look at the slides, you can see the detail, but this would just update those provisions. It's in bold face. If you have questions, you can look to it, but it really is just addressing this issue of yes. I do have one suggestion. Maybe adding in there that the board president will recognize like when a person joins or exits the meeting. Cuz it

056would make it easier for Sandy when she's doing the minutes. So I don't know. That's just one Yeah, I think we have that recognition language in there, but we can bring that and make that more explicit. It is. It would be, but when they're But when they're there. When they're there. Entering and leaving, she's saying. We can add that. We can make it more explicit. Any questions? No, that's good. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. Uh so board governance. You had to ask the policy committee to look at a disposition of real property policy. This will just go in the finance section. It essentially allows for you to review and have a committee to look at real property issues. Pretty straightforward. Data privacy and governance. What we've done here is just followed uh state law by

057designating a chief administrative officer and adding the statutory provisions for data governance. Cybersecurity, uh there was a bill directed at cybersecurity. Um what we've done in this policy is really just identified a district uh leader for cybersecurity or IT director and they will cooperate with UETN as they bring more issues forward. So, it's just to go in our data governance and general section. In our non-discrimination policy, what we've done is just aligned definitions with Utah code and remove language that has since been overruled by federal court proceedings. Workers' compensation, uh these are just cosmetic. Essentially, we're aligning our policy for reporting injuries as reasonably practical within 24 to 28 hours. And then we're having notification to our employees that uh they may be required to pay for medical treatments not covered by workers' compensation. Uh

058in our termination of employment for administrative personnel, we're just adding a definition for an administrative intern. Again, this is the student non-discrimination, but it's the same uh rationale aligning with code and removing language that is uh no longer relevant. Uh our student conduct and discipline policy, we've added legislative provisions dealing with uh juvenile justice amendments, specifically on that third offense referring a minor to court. And also updates for reintegration plans where they changed it from 5 to 7 days notice during the summer. And also definitions for adjudicator, arrest, and charges for sexual offenses. In our school fees and in our student educational travel policy or on direction, we're adding language that deals with fee waivers, and you can only uh travel once before you can enter into to an agreement for um an action plan

059for a fee waiver. So, in both of those policies, we've added that language in based on that bill. And in our open enrollment school admissions policy, there was legislation uh adding the definition for bullying training for students before they can enroll. And then in our graduation requirements policy, we've removed the Canyons differentiated diplomas, which has been discussed by the board. And then we updated the definitions of the other diplomas, and then added sections for earning graduation credit. In our instructional materials, we've added language for classroom displays that deal with First Amendment-related issues. The classroom in the classroom, those are your displays belong to the Board of Education, and it's not a place for um First Amendment speech by um employees, so we've added those provisions. And then the Focus Graduation Pathway is a program through

060state USBE rule, where you're able to, if you take the GED, you can receive a diploma. And you have to have a policy in order to engage in that process, and we've adopted a policy to do so. It's separate from our graduation policy, based on the SBE rule. The last policy is our study of controversial issues. Um it was been outdated and needed um substantial revisions, so the whole board policy was updated um to redefine uh the term controversial issue, and also um to help employees and teachers as they address those issues in the classroom. Um specifically defining it, and then also um adding instructional expectations and Sorry, back room. and educator expectations. All of those are online. A lot of it is legislative and issues that have come up in recent discussion. Okay, and

061that was amazing. Wow. And based on that time, I think I need to do something for him. >> [laughter] >> or something. Letting me go before 6:30 is best practice. Yeah, you don't have to stay for um this meeting. >> No, I I it's a lot of substantive work and um we'll be bringing some more cuz we only touched a few. We touched a lot of on legislation, but there are a few more technology and attendance will be coming. in the summer. Um Warren, are there any questions? Cuz I do have some questions. Okay. Question / recommendation. Can we go back to the real estate? Certainly. So, who's going to be on this committee? Like are board members on it? Is it just administrative? So, as the as the committee was designed, I don't think

062we talked about membership, just that they with the ability to develop and establish a real estate committee. This is the committee should meet regularly among other uh and it's chaired by the business administrator. I think it could be like other committees where you can decide you can assign Um if you want us to be more specific, it we just took the draft that was that you provided to us from one of the other schools. I think it was Granite. Um I can reach out to Granite and find out how they have structured their committee. Um we left it broad to allow this group to weigh in. If you have input on it. Warren, what do they want to have a board member? Have we been sort of discussing it? Is it long-range planning or operations?

063Yeah, operations. I I'd probably recommend small committee those, but probably a board member who serves on long range. And then that committee will just bring recommendations to the board. I have some other things but I'll just email you. I don't like I don't Yeah, any questions you have I that you come up you can send me and I can be prepared to address them at the second reading. Yeah, Amanda. I mean I am wondering what the need behind that would be if we've already kind of discussed it in long range and we what's the thinking behind the need for it? I mean it's creating another committee to create another committee. I think it's as we look at possibly going down closing more schools granted you know, they got a lot of feedback from their communities

064about what are you going to do with the properties. Yeah, so we have to This was And we can just point this is our policy. Yeah, I think it's good. Okay, Ed Board anything else? Thank you all. A lot of work so thank you to your policy committee. Okay. Andrew do you have anything you would like to add like you It's a May-September romance. >> [laughter] >> Okay, so what is going on with the student advisory council? >> They're out here. Oh, they are? Yes, those that are here. Oh, that's great. We had as you all know it's a very busy time of year. We had six that RSVP'd but just before I came back in there are five here for sure but one has agreed to and share something so if we're ready Yeah,

065we're ready to bring them in. Okay Ed Board we can each maybe just say a quick something if you want to second. And I'll start with you Ed Board. Okay. Got it. If you want We've got it, sweetheart. They are working like clockwork. I don't know. It was beautiful. It was actually really fun. Cuz you were telling me about everything. I didn't know she wants to write so well. Yeah, and that's kind of what we were doing. Oh, and I missed it. Yeah, I just didn't know if So good. Does it feel nice it's done, too? It's okay. But I think it's something to put on the table and >> [clears throat] >> Thanks for Okay. So, now we are going to our student advisory council recognitions, and I'll start by turning the time over

066to Tom Sherwood, our director of high schools. Thank you. So, uh since I came over to the district, uh this was a tradition that was already started, and I uh felt very honored to take over the practice of having students come and give us feedback about what's going on in our schools, for better or worse. And we had an exceptional group this year. We had really good levels of participation and engagement, and a lot of great uh feedback. Um so, we invited them all to come tonight. We got about five of them to give up of their time and effort to come and see us. And uh Mary Ann volunteered to say a few words about their experience this year. Where do you want me? Just right there. Stand right there. Thank you. As he

067said, my name is Mary Ann Jensen. I'm a senior at Brighton High School, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've had this year to serve on the Superintendent Student Leadership Board. It's been a really unique experience, because not only was I able to represent my own Bengal perspective, but I got to sit alongside students from across the district and talk honestly about what school is really like for us right now. I currently serve through the Miss America organization as Miss Butler Ville, and I will be competing for Miss Utah this June. Through my service, I work to be an advocate for youth, especially through my service initiative, Utah Voices Empowering Youth to Lead Where They Live. I believe that students don't just want to be heard, they want to be understood, and we want

068to be part of the conversation. I believe very deeply that when decisions are being made that affects the youth, youth perspectives should be consulted. And that's exactly why this board was created. It gives students a space to share real experiences, challenge assumptions, and help bridge the gap between what's happening in schools and the decisions being made about them. Because the truth is, when students are included in these conversations, the outcomes are stronger, policies are more relevant, solutions are more effective, and trust between students and educators grows. This experience has meant a lot to me, not just because I was selected to be a part of it, but because it showed me what's possible when student voices are genuinely valued. I felt genuinely that my voice mattered. I looked forward to our lunch meetings once a

069month because I knew that what I had to say was important, and other people agreed. There were times when I would apologize for taking up too much time or sharing too many opinions or speaking for too long, but every time, without fail, one of the board members, normally Karen Peterson, would stop me and remind me that my voice matters. During our meetings, we were asked about how the phone policy is implemented in our schools, as well as its lack of consistency across the board. We helped to brainstorm ideas on how to encourage its use, as well as pros and cons of its phone restriction. I loved the day when we discussed the impact of Canyons Innovation Center. I think all of us in the room were disappointed that we won't have access to its infinite

070resources because most of us are graduating. We also covered the importance that all teams and clubs are being recognized evenly. Highlighting football and basketball teams as well as marching band and speech and debate. We all agreed that team building and recognition is important for students because it shows them that no matter what they're involved in, they are valued. It means the world to me to know that the conversations we had in that room this year will impact and ameliorate Canyons School District for future students. So, my hope is that opportunities like this continue to expand because when students have a seat at the table, it doesn't just impact us, it improves the entire system. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I just wanted to thank the them for coming and thank them for their service throughout

071the year. It is a sacrifice to get themselves here. A lot of them miss class, they miss lunch with their friends to come and participate. So, we we just >> [clears throat] >> wanted to recognize that. All of the participants have been have been given a letter of thank you from the board and a Canyons District coin. So, thank you. Okay. We also have Brody that's hiding out here in the corner who should be sitting up front. Should I go? >> [laughter] >> Anyway. Okay, so the board just wants to thank you and we would love to just We're going to go around and just say a little something to you as students. I get to start. >> [laughter] >> Great. I have well, I've always loved being on the with you guys on the

072committees because you really are such a big part of what we're able to accomplish. I I it's super important that you are concluded as part of our constituency. We hear from adults a lot. But do we get to talk to our students? And you guys have been a example exemplary, my mouth isn't working. Um, group and brought up some really good points and I loved how you were respectful back and forth one to one another. And I think it was eye-opening to all of the schools really to see how different not only the commonalities, but the differences between your two schools and that you came up you were trying to come up with common solutions. So, I appreciate your coming. It was always a joy to have you and I hope this has been a

073good experience that can help you in your future. You expressed it so well. I was going to say >> [laughter] >> runner-up Sterling Scholar. So, we we should get a copy of that cuz it was a great speech. We really should. Um, so that we can explain to people how wonderful it is. But anyway, thank you so much for what you've done. Okay, Mr. Lewis. Thank you all for being participating members of our student advisory committee. Uh, school districts, our job is not only to serve our communities and our teachers and our staff, but it's also to serve the our district 30 almost 35,000 students we have and you guys represent those students to us. Tell us how our decisions in these meetings affect your lives. And we're we're very grateful for the fact that

074you guys are participating. We hope that one of one day you guys step up and serve on this board as well. We not any single one of us can serve our entire lives or forever. So, Nor do we want to. No, nor do we want to. So, please, uh, stay involved. You guys are clearly interested and passionate about something. So, stay involved. Thank you. Mrs. Oaks. So, all of you have played the game of telephone, right, as kids and probably in classrooms. Sometimes I I like meeting with you guys is like hearing from the end person in the game of telephone, right? I mean, we put out like what we think ought to happen, and sometimes by translation things get changed, and whoever is on the receiving end sometimes receives something very different than what

075was originally intended. And I think that's that's one of the reasons why having you come together and give us feedback about what it's like to be the customer in the system is so important. Um on that note, I want you to know that when we sit in our committee meetings and the feedback from the student advisory council is brought up, that actually carries a lot of credibility. So, specifically, I'll give you one example in the high quality learning committee, when we heard feedback from you guys about the purchase of a Canyon Scholar, and you were like, "We've never seen this. Why do we know nothing about it? How long has this existed?" That was like a classic okay, game of telephone moment, right? I mean, we thought that that was getting out and that people

076were understanding it, and for you to come back and say, "No." It really has put a little bit more of a fire under us to say, "Okay, we need to do this better." So, I hope you realize that um the sacrifices like what um like Mr. Wood said, they really do make a difference in the long run for a system that will impact other kids. And if there's anything I I hope you can take away, it is just that very point. That sometimes you'll get involved in public service, and you'll think, "It's easy to get frustrated cuz you think change takes such a long time." Like you were saying, "I'm not going to get to participate in the innovation center." But I can guarantee you that as you have given us feedback, that experience is

077going to be better for someone because you did participate in this setting. And that's what it's all about. I You know, I often sit in this position now, and I I about the people that came before me that made my experience better. And I appreciate them differently now. So, thank you for for doing that and keep going. Mr. Adam. Yeah, so as you guys start moving on to the next big phase in your life, right? Never lose what you learned in this, which is to advise and to recommend and to give that feedback because wherever you go, there's going to be people who need that information. As you move into further education or you move into the workforce, um your bosses aren't going to know everything and and I tell people that all the time.

078I don't know everything and I need I need people to tell me what I don't know. Uh so, never lose that. Always remember that people want you to advise them, right? And and how you approach that is going to matter, but what's most important is that you don't keep it to yourself. Um honestly, like the most selfish thing a person can do is like keep their great thoughts and great ideas to themselves. As crazy as that sounds, right? Um so, continue to advise, continue to go out uh and I know uh like in my organization that I work for outside of here, like I'd love to have uh any one of you. So, you know, if you are interested in a part-time job that'll pay for 100% of your college, uh shoot me a message.

079But, yeah, continue to be awesome. Okay, Mrs. Dolly. Um thank you for taking the time to volunteer. I know sometimes it's hard to leave classes and have to make up assignments, but it really does help us to make better decisions based on the feedback that you have given us and also giving you the opportunity to see how other students are experience experiencing school in the district and it you know, in their educational journey. But uh I would encourage you to continue volunteering in your communities as you go forward. You know, if you're good at a university, be involved in the associations. I mean, that's where I've met some of the best people I know is through volunteer opportunities. And so, I'd encourage you to keep it up. As you've seen, it's been a great opportunity

080to get to know other people. So, thank you for your work. Thank you for volunteering to help with this. Here, Mrs. Lightner. Thanks for being here. I loved your speech. I loved the input that I heard this year. I think you're the reason why I'm here and the reason why all of us are here. We're here because we care about you. We care about the student experience. And and that's really what what drives us to do what we do. And so, really appreciate all of your feedback. I agree with what's been said and I don't need to repeat it, but just remember that you don't get what you don't ask for. So, advocate for yourself moving forward in higher ed, in your job situations. Be open to give feedback and then also be open to

081receive feedback. Um any any time someone is giving you feedback, that's an opportunity for you to learn and grow as well. And I'm excited to see where you launch next. You guys are incredible. Thanks for being part of us. Okay, thank you. I as you can see, I have an amazing board. Like they always say everything so by the time it comes to me, I don't have much left to say. I do want to point out though, Mary Mary Ann is one of my neighbors and she was the 5A debate champion. We left that out. That's my district service. She can send it to me though. I can get it. But I do want to thank all of you and I really do appreciate just adding one little thing. Like just your honesty and being

082willing to speak up in those meetings. Cuz if you guys don't say anything, then we don't know it. So. And your voice does matter. And with that, we'll close study and I just want you to know that out that door are some of the freshmen. And then we have a meeting that starts at 7:00, but we'd love to just talk to you for a minute. So, thank you so much. >> Mhm. >> Okay, welcome to the meeting of the Canyons Board of Education. Today is May 5th, 2026, and we're meeting at the District Office located at 9361 South 300 East in Sandy, Utah. The first item on the agenda is to approve the agenda for tonight, so I will now take a motion. I'll approve the agenda for tonight, May 5th. Okay, thank you. Is

083there a second to that motion? I'll second it. Okay, thank you. We have a motion and a second to approve the agenda. Are there any comments or discussion to that motion? Okay, seeing none, I'll call for a vote. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Okay, that motion passes unanimously. We are now going on to the Pledge of Allegiance and this will be led by Crescent Elementary Principal Kirsten Draper and then we will hear highlights of the school. Please rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hello. I am honored to have this opportunity to celebrate our Crescent Elementary community. We have 423 of the most kind

084and hardworking students you could possibly find. We are fortunate to have a vibrant, multilingual population and three accommodated core classrooms that make our Crescent family complete. Our Crescent Cubs love learning before and after school as well. We offer a variety of before and after school programs to help our Cubs shine. Before and after school, our students grow gardens, write code in Steam Club, build and engineer during our makerspace time, sing in the choir, dance with our dance crew, and play string instruments in our Crescent Orchestra. I should mention that our musicians are very excited for the monster concert tomorrow night and we will be cheering them on. Um our Crescent Cubs also love reading at all hours of the day and they document their minutes in our road to success Beanstack app. And we are

08595% of the way to meet our goal of 350,000 hours of reading as a school and we are hoping to complete our goal by the end of this week. Several of our students also participated in Book Blitz for the first time this year and they loved competing both on a school level and in the district Book Blitz championship. We also had a second grade student start a writing club with the support of their parents and it was wonderful to see their incredible work and all of the students that were excited to join a student led club group student led group. Our students also enjoyed participating in the Scripps Spelling Bee and worked hard to earn their conquering cub medal for our end of the year award ceremonies. They earn the conquering cub by setting personal

086and school goals and making sure to serve the community with the service project as well. Our Crescent Cubs roar with their hard work, their love of learning and their dedication to kindness and caring. Thank you for this opportunity to celebrate them. It is a privilege to be a part of their incredible educational community. Thank you. Okay, thank you Principal Draper and please pass on the board's thanks to your staff and community and we really appreciate all you do. Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Okay, the next item on the agenda is the Canyon Strong Employee Recognitions and that will be by Jeff Haney, Director and Kristen Stewart, Associate Director of Communications. President Shill, thank you for this time that the board grants us to recognize those who have gone above and beyond in their

087drive to be Canyon strong. You know, it's Teacher Appreciation Week and there are few better ways to honor our teachers than to once again name our 2026 Canyons District Teacher of the Year. This year, we're represented by Lisa Hayes, who is a teacher at Silver Mesa Elementary School. It's the first time in Canyons District history that an ACC's teacher has been chosen as our nominee in the state Teacher of the Year competition. Congratulations to Lisa. She received this news in front of a packed auditorium at Union Middle School on April 21st. That was the last official meeting of the Board of Education. We had friends and families and supporters from all of our teachers of the year at all of our schools and programs there to cheer their friends, their parents, their aunts, uncles, and

088some grandparents as they stepped stood on the stage to receive an award from the Board of Education and the two free tickets to the May 16th game at Real Salt Lake. That's Canyons District night and there will be a link to discount tickets for the entire community later this week on the Canyons District website. The Real Salt Lake organization also donated a jersey to every Teacher of the Year. They will wear those jerseys when they're introduced at halftime at the game on Canyons District night. It's a tradition that we've held strong here in the Canyons School District and we're happy to be a partner with our local major league soccer team here in our own backyard. We also announced our teacher our instructional coach of the year. That's Brighton's Jackie Ricks and our preschool teacher

089of the year, Candy Keefer. A big thanks to Cyprus Credit Union for sponsoring the cash prize that were get was given to our teacher of the year and to our two finalists. Our teacher of the year received $1,000. That came through Cyprus Credit Union from the Canyons Education Foundation, which is a co-sponsor of our Teacher of the Year program. Congratulations to Mrs. Hayes, the Canyons District Teacher of the Year. Now, tomorrow, May 6th, is National School Nurse Day. And that's celebrated every year during National Nurses Week. And that school nurses help us bridge the link between learning and health. Now, this was never more apparent in 2020 when we faced the COVID-19 pandemic, but the role of the school nurse has not been been diminished at all since that time. And that's been especially true

090in recent weeks when we faced possible outbreaks at some of our schools. But our nurses also work hard to advance the well-being of students through health testing, direct care for acute and chronic illnesses, immunization clinics, and so much more. We give a big Canyons strong shout-out to School Nursing Specialist Jen Gerard and her team for all they do for Canyons schools. The school-to-home connection is made strong in Canyons by administrators like Alta High Principal Ken Roly. The UT Utah PTA has recognized Ken's commitment to parent engagement and involvement at the home of the Hawks and recently presented him with the Utah Outstanding Administrator of the Year award. Congratulations to Mr. Roly. He is a great example of a school and a community leader who goes above and beyond to support the PTA's mission of promoting

091the health, the the wellness, and the welfare of all children. So, congratulations to Mr. Rowley. We also wish break a leg to Alta High's theater students. Their production of Hadestown received five nominations for the Utah High School Musical Theater Awards. We'll find out on Saturday night if they win any of the awards. They're nominated also for best actor. Hillcrest High School's theater department was nominated for nine awards including best musical. So, we are hoping that one of our schools will bring home some one of those coveted after the event this weekend. And if anybody in the community is looking for a family friend friendly entertainment, Corner Canyon is staging Hadestown this week. I'm going on Saturday night with my mom. It's a treat for Mother's Day. Tickets are available on the Corner Canyon website. Corner

092Canyon's theater department does a fantastic job with all of their productions. So, if you're looking for anything, that's a good show to go to. At the next board meeting, we will celebrate the Canyon School theater wins at the state competition. Hint, we won. So, congratulations to Hillcrest and we'll celebrate them at another time. So, the guy at the left is our go-to guy with all of our questions about our SIS. Eric Taylor is the genius behind the machine and we're lucky to have him as part of our IT team. Eric was recently presented with the 2026 Jack Erickson Excellence in Technology Services Award. This was given by the Utah Council of Education Technology. This award recognizes a network technician, administrator, engineer, or system systems operator specialist who has demonstrated a significant or positive impact on

093technology use and education. So, congratulations to Eric who also is a previous winner of our Apex Awards. Those are the highest awards given by the Canyons Board of Education and Administration. We'll start taking nominations for 2026 awards next week on our website. So, go there, submit your nominations, and while you're there, you can also say congratulations to Eric for being so Canyon strong. Also seen on this slide are our facility workers who represented the district on in a Fox 13 story or later late last week. We gave reporter Tina Juliana Giuliano a chance to do what most journalists secretly dream of, hopping on a mower at a middle school. She was out spotlighting the many ways that Canyon students and other teens can land a summer job. And they had a lot of scenes in

094this story from a busy job fair at Hillcrest High School to testing out the perks of working on our grounds crews. All Canyons high schools recently hosted job fairs to help students find summer employment and explore their career options. Now, here's the invitation to anybody who is listening, come join team Canyons. We are hiring summer sweepers to do the deep cleans of all of our buildings for the coming year. Our grounds crews, they help maintain the district's more than 371 acres of green space. Those are a lot of summer jobs. If you're interested, contact the district. You might be able to do like the journalist did and hop on that mower, make your way around the middle school campus. You could build real-world skills, showing up on time, working as a team, taking ownership, and

095also working to build a little bit of pride at your local neighborhood school, while They're earning a little bit of money for your back to school clothes. While the announcement of the teacher of the year was the big news at the last meeting, an important announcement and appointment was made in the moments before the ceremony. Canyons has named veteran educator and a former Oak Dale Roadrunner, Albion Knight, and Brighton Bengal, Mindy Robinson as our assistant superintendent. Mindy is currently a school performance director over the middle schools, and in her new role will function as the chief of staff to Dr. Robinson. She'll oversee operations for Canyons District's 47 schools and programs and steer initiatives that are prioritized as part of the board's strategic plan. That includes Canyons District's implementation of Canyons Port Canyons Portrait of

096a Scholar Framework. Mindy has been an educator for 27 years. She's been a teacher and instructional coach, a specialist, a school and district administrator, and later tonight, the board also will vote on the consent agenda, and there might just be a few administrative appointments. So, watch our social media feeds and our website later tonight to find out who will be serving where in Canyons schools. Now, we've long known that the faculty and staff at Jordan Valley are the true Samaritans of the world. After all, they care for Canyons District's most special students. But, the same level of care was shown by Principal Matt Nelson's team when one of their employees fell and broke her femur behind the school. Here are some screenshots of the surveillance camera footage of the immediate response by colleagues who dashed

097to her side when they discovered her on the ground behind the dumpster because she was actually taking out trash by herself. When a staff member saw her on the ground, she called for help and within seconds the Jordan Valley team flew into action. Some like Tucker Gamble jumped out of the physical therapy pool in his bare feet and his swimsuit to offer aid and assistance. In seconds the Jordan Valley team brought blankets, a pillow, privacy screens while they held her hand and offered up thoughts and prayers while emergency crews were on their way. Now Principal Nelson says this response is just what they do. They do it for their students and they did it for a fallen colleague. We want to pause during this meeting of the Board of Education to offer our thanks and

098appreciation to the Jordan Valley faculty and staff for showing us and each other what it truly means to be Canyons Caring and Canyons Strong. A special thanks to Ashlyn Stevens, Christina Moore, Stephanie Porter, Jenny Warner, Nick Gardner and Tucker Gamble for their commitment and care of their colleague. President Shill, thank you for this time. The Board grants us this during our Board meetings to show the world how our students, faculty and staff are Canyons Strong. Only a few more weeks remain in the school year. Now doesn't it just feel like yesterday that we were walking the red carpets on the first day? And we can see the class of 2026 getting ready to walk across the stage and to finish strong. In just a few weeks our graduates will be in their caps and their

099gowns, eyes set on the future, ready to take on the world with what they have learned in Canyons School. Thanks largely to the licensed personnel and education support professionals in Canyons schools. We turn the time back to you. Okay, thank you so much. We have now come to the patron comment portion of our meeting. The board often designates time in meetings to listen to the patrons of the district. Patron comment time is limited to residents and taxpayers of Canyons District. Students and parents of students and current employees of the district. Patrons may provide board members with written documents. These documents must be submitted to the board's administrative assistant who is right over there. At the meeting or emailed to the office of public communications by noon of the day following the board meeting. Tonight, individuals

100will be given 2 minutes and those representing groups will be given 3 minutes. Comments made during patron comment time are part of the public record. It is the board's practice to listen and take notes during patron comments. The Board of Education does not discuss matters that are not on the meeting's agenda nor engage in public comment on individual students to protect their privacy or employee issues. If a patron wants to comment on a district employee's character, professional competence, or mental or physical health, the board requests that those comments be submitted to the board in writing. However, if the patron determines to verbally comment on those personal issues, the comments need to be civil and refrain from personal attacks, insults, defamatory, or slanderous comments about an individual. The Board of Education values input on all sides

101of issues. Please maintain decorum and respect. We ask that those in attendance refrain from applause or other types of demonstrations during the patron comment time as well as throughout the meeting. Okay, so I'm going to read two names at a time and please just come up to the front. And there'll be a timer in front of you. And also, if I say your name incorrectly, please correct me when you come up. The first will be Brooke Eastam and then Heather O'Cain. Hi, my name is Brooke Eastam and I'm a mother of three children. Two of my kids go to Granite right now and my youngest will attend in the 2020 27 28 year. This is Will. So, many of us entered this process willing to consider difficult compromises because we believed that we needed to

102make some tough decisions and that we'd but we'd be able to keep our school community together. And we especially liked uh the high school feeder alignment part of the proposal. But now later in the process, this piece appears to be off the table and that significantly changes the proposal that we're being asked to consider. So, with this 11th hour change, the Granite community has not really had enough time to process these changes or provide thoughtful feedback on a different plan. And because of that, I respectfully ask the board to table this proposal. Um I also ask the board to broaden the conversation beyond closing schools and focus on strengthening enrollment across the district as a whole. Um I came from the private school world before entering public schools and one thing I've seen clearly is

103that I know. Yeah, is that families are looking for compelling educational opportunities. Yep. So, instead of focusing on closing and consolidating, we should be exploring new and innovative options. So, please consider that before just thinking about reducing our overhead. Orange is going to be gone, that's from Will. And um but anyway, please slow the process down, give us time to consider the this new proposal. And uh before before you make this decision. Thank you. This is too hard. Okay, thank you. So, Heather O'Cain and then Laura Anderson. Um my name is Heather O'Cain. I'm the parent of two Willow Canyon students. Tonight, I respectfully ask the board to pause the proposal as currently presented including the consolidation of Quail Hollow and Granite Elementary. I don't believe merging Park Lane and Willow Canyon is the only

104option, nor do I believe the district has fully explored the most thoughtful and sustainable path forward. Willow Canyon and Park Lane are both strong, high-performing schools with communities that families deeply value. I urge the district to conduct a comprehensive boundary review starting at the high school level and working down through middle and elementary schools. The enrollment challenges we see today at the elementary level will eventually impact middle and high schools as well. Addressing only a few schools now without looking at the larger system risks creating bigger problems later. There are still important questions that remain unanswered. Why are some schools near or over capacity while special units like DLI remain at those schools? Why are we paying for portables at some schools why while others remain under utilized? And why are students continuing to be

105moved out of the Eismont-Jordan feeder system when we already acknowledge there is a significant enrollment issue there. The board has repeatedly expressed support for Eismont, but the actions and votes have not reflected that same commitment. I understand that a district-wide boundary study is a major undertaking. Strategic strategic boundary adjustments and relocating special programs to underutilized schools could help stabilize enrollment, better utilize existing facilities, and strengthen schools across the district. I also have concerns about the proposal for the future school site. Why was Park Why was the Park Lane site selected? It appears to be the smaller property while Willow Canyon already has infrastructure better suited for long-term development including a separate bus lane, dedicated parent drop-off, safer traffic flow, and a level site for construction. We've also heard heard concerns about creating gaps in neighborhood

106school access, but the data does not support that. The driving distance between Willow Canyon and Quail Hollow is actually slightly shorter than the distance between Park Lane and Glacier Hills, which would leave a larger gap if the Park Lane site is selected. Thank you. Laura Anderson and then Anna Jeppson. That's intimidating. I'm really loud anyway. Okay, first I just want to say thank you so much for listening to us. We know this has been so messy and you were so sick of seeing our same faces every time, but thank you so much for listening and really drawing back the study to look at the middle schools and high schools, which are the biggest issue. I just want to say we thank you so much for that. Um it means that you're really listening to us

107and I think every person in this room thinks that's the absolute best plan. So, I think we've we've got one thing right and I really appreciate that. Um I've also seen that the plan is to table consolidation of Willow Canyon and Park Lane, which we're also very grateful for. So, thank you. Um but more information, wait, hold on. Yes, as we gather more information, it'll be better better outcome for all of our students. I would also ask that you pause the move of Granite to Quail Hollow. It feels premature when we don't have all the information just yet. I've heard so many parents at the Granite public meeting say that they in fact did not want to merge with Quail Hollow. The main reason people are okay with the move is because they wanted to

108secure a place at Albion and Brighton and not have to risk going Isma and Indian or Isma and um Uintah. But if we're doing a study and that might change, it might change the outcome of that. But if we move Quail Hollow, it backs Willow Canyon and Park Lane into a corner of that being our only option to combine with them. I really love our Park Lane friends and I don't want to hurt any feelings, but I think the absolute best plan would be to split Park Lane in half, send half to Granite, send half to Willow Canyon, and we'd have two thriving schools within the community. If you move Granite now, that leaves our only option Oh, I just said that. Sorry. Um, so please don't make a permanent decision with incomplete information. It

109feels like building a house without using a blueprint first. If you move Granite, it's a very permanent decision and then we're stuck with no other options. Let's look at the whole thing first and then make a final decision and see what it is. I understand that Granite is in a very sticky situation, but also that leaves us in a sticky situation where they said a few meetings ago, if we combine everybody at Willow Canyon, we have to limit how many permits we can have for kindergartners, which is going to perpetuate the issue of smaller schools. We want every student who wants to come to be able to come. So, please consider that. Okay, thank you. So, Anna Jepson, then Dylan Lou. Thank you. Tonight, I am stepping out of side of my comfort zone to

110speak because I knew I would regret staying silent. I am the parent of two students at Granite Elementary and we moved here last summer from North Texas where my children attended a highly ranked school in a top district. Even compared to that experience, Granite stands apart. In just one year, I've seen firsthand what makes this school so special. Granite is exceptional academically, but what truly sets it apart is its culture of inclusion. I have worked in special education for over 15 years and I've visited dozens and dozens of schools with EEC classrooms. I can say without hesitation that Granite's program is unlike anything I've ever seen. It is not simply a program within the school. It is woven into the fabric of the entire community. That kind of culture takes years, if not decades, to

111build. Over the past year, my children have grown tremendously here. Granite has become more than just a school they attend. It is where they belong. I also want to thank the board for listening to community input throughout this difficult process. When the third proposal was introduced, I initially felt relief that our Raintree neighborhood would remain together. But after a deeper reflection, I do not believe closing Granite is the right right solution for the enrollment challenges we all recognize. Granite it not be the loudest voice in this process, but our students and families matter just as much. So, tonight, I'm here offering my final Hail Mary, a sincere request to pause. Please allow Granite the same time to wait and evaluate that you are giving Park Lane and Willow Canyon before making a decision that cannot

112be undone. Thank you so much. Thank you. So, Dylan Lou, then Elise Butler. Good evening, board members, and thank you for lending your time to talk about an issue that's important to me and my fellow students. My name is Dylan Lou, and I'm a junior at Hillcrest High School, and I'm a proud product of the Canyons School District education system, which I've been part of for all my years of schooling. I'm here on behalf of my fellow students to talk about an issue that's very important to me, which is recycling. At the start of the school year, I had the opportunity to talk to my fellow students about recycling. And every single person I talked to had already identified at the start of the year, barely any time had passed into that the recycling bins

113from the classrooms were all missing. What does this mean? It means that the students care about this. It means that they see recycling as something that's important to their school community. For me, I care about recycling cuz it's given me three things: an appreciation for my community, a way to give back to the my community, and the way to interact with the world at a wider scale. So, I've been a part of Hillcrest Earth Club for all three years of my of high school. And part of that role was going around the school and collecting recycling that had accumulated over the week from the teachers' classrooms. I had a lot of fun doing this with my fellow members who quickly became my friends. But most importantly, I felt that I was able to make an

114impact on my community. Um and this impact is really important for our education and my education, right? I want everyone else to have the same opportunity that I did building the relationship with the teachers through the second as they were really appreciative of our efforts. I want to be I also want to continue this for myself for next year. I want I know in my senior I still have the opportunity to learn and grow. And so, please put recycling on the agenda for next meeting. Please work with us, the students, who care about this. And remember that recycling that paying for recycling isn't a cost, it's an investment in our education. It's a recycling exemplifies the learning >> [bell] >> Thank you for your time. Okay, thank you. Okay, Elise Butler, then Chad Butler. Elise

115had to leave. Okay, we'll go on. Is Chad Butler here? I am. Okay. All right. Two minutes, that's not a lot of time. No, I'm just kidding. Um, okay. Thank you all um for being here and listening to us. Um, I have two kids that go to Granite Elementary and part of the reason that I came today was to ask the board to follow through on the study that they've already done. You guys have already done the boundary study. You've done the research and you more or less made the decision. I've spoken to some of you on it that Granite and Quail Hollow would be combined and that's what we've been expecting for the last year. I don't know why you go back on it now other than the fact that you're caving to pressure

116that's been put before you. So, I ask that you follow through on what you've already agreed to so we don't have to go through this again for another 12 to 24 months. Uh, the other thing I'd like to question is why we're closing elementary schools to begin with when we spent over $400 million on high schools. If If problem is as bad as you say, who the hell is going to go to those high schools? Why do we spend $400 million on high schools if we're going to have that big of a demographic problem? And you claim not to have any money for the teachers or the for the amount of students that are there, spent almost $60 million on a tech center. Again, with a {quote} {unquote} demographic decline, which I would question if

117that is even correct. Um and then you claim that a thriving elementary school needs 22 kids per classroom. The only study I can find on that was actually the Canyons board in that came up with that number. So, thriving by definition of the board that was in charge in 2009 is not an actual study. It's an opinion based on finances. Studies that are out there show 13 to 17 kids is an appropriate classroom size. And we have the money because apparently we like state-of-the-art high schools that we're not going to need in the future because of our demographic problems. So, that's all I have. Okay, thank you. We have Randy Moore, then Brandy List. Good evening, board members. I don't envy your position, but I appreciate your dedication and your time. You know, I think

118there's two aspects to this. There's the fiscal responsibility, the numbers, then there's somewhat of the student responsibility and the political responsibility. When I look at the numbers between the four elementary schools, they range from Park Lane 260, Granite 200, Quail Hollow 300, Willow Canyon 260. Granite is the one area that I think you will see a small increase in students over the next couple of years if the boundaries were to stay where they are because there's two new developments that have come in there. There'll be 40 new homes in the Granite boundary. I think you'll see those numbers increase a little bit, 20, 30, 40 students. So, what do we have? We have a difference [clears throat] of 50 students between all four of these schools. We wouldn't have imagined these numbers 3 years ago.

119If you went 3 years ago and asked anyone, "Would these be the numbers today?" Impossible to imagine. 3 years from now, what may be the numbers? Um I think that there needs to be a step back to to look and to analyze and to see what changes in the next couple of years and to see if that continues. Uh I also think I've been in in real estate development and construction for 40 plus years. When I look at all four of these sites, the Park Lane site, excuse me, Park Lane or parents, but it's the worst site. It's the smallest site and at least 50% of that site is unbuildable or even unusable for playground. So, I think more analysis needs to go into looking at the rebuild, how the rebuild might come, and I

120think if there's a change that it should go from probably the four schools to two. Uh thank you. Okay, thank you. So, now we have Brandy List, then Tiffany Smith. Hi, I'm a Granite EEC teacher and um I just want to talk about a few structures outside at Quail Hollow um that are important to my EEC students that are currently kind of missing that we would need um to have in place. One of the playgrounds at Quail Hollow doesn't have any shade at all anywhere near it. Um we have a lot of EEC students that can't regulate body temperature and they would need to have some shade in place in order to be able to interact with their peers. So, just playing at one playground really isn't an option for them to be able to

121interact with peers. Um also at Granite we have four swings and two of them are adapted swings and we use those daily a lot for regulation when students get really upset. Um we take them out to the swings, fresh air, and swings are well known to help students with regulation. Um also one of the Quail Hollow playgrounds is kind of built up. Woo, I'm sure you guys maybe have seen it. Um for me to safely have students out there, it's built up, there's a rock, and then there's a road right there. I'll have to have two staff at each step, another person at the rock, and another person at the road. That's at least four staff members just to keep my class safe. Minimum. If I have somebody on break during a recess time, that's

122five staff members I have to have in my room at least. And if somebody goes running in the other direction, that would have to be a sixth person. Um there's less of a buffer to the road there than we have at Granite. Today, um we had two students. One made it to the road at Granite, and we have a large way to the road. Um another one tried but didn't quite make it and Quail Hollow has a much busier street than we do. Um it feels like there are a lot of moving parts. My students don't do well with moving parts. It would be much better, I would feel, if we just had a plan that we could go forward with that my students I knew what they were doing and that they were just

123going to be taken care of. Okay, thank Thank Now we have Tiffany Smith, then Catherine Torello. I'm speaking for a group, so I get more minutes, right? Okay. Um so I had this really eloquent speech written up. Um and as you can feel the emotions in the room, I'm so I Oh my group, I hope you love me enough to trust where I'm going to go with this cuz I'm totally changing my plan. Um at a March meeting, and I I'm sorry. I This is the only place I've ever worked. For 19 years I've spent my career in this building. Um at the March meeting, a parent got up and said, "We are jealous of Granite because Granite is getting everything they want, and Granite is leaving happy, and that is not That is not

124the case. We are devastated. And we are so thrilled you have given us our EEC to stay with us, but that does not change that you are you are potentially voting in a few minutes on um making a huge change for a community that's been standing for a long time. Um it's really disheartening to know I know the rumor isn't It's a rumor. It's a not quite official, but it's already been on the news that Park Lane is staying open, and to be the neighboring school. Um we behaved respectfully, and we were actually told in our building we were told, "If you are respectful and do this a certain way, you will be rewarded for it." And that is exactly the opposite of what I anticipate's happening tonight based based on what I heard each

125one of you say at the meeting where you guys tried to almost push a vote through. Um and then it didn't happen. So um our community does feel disappointed in the way that we think it's going to go, and it very much feels like the squeaky wheel is getting the grease. And to be clear, all both of these schools matter. It is not It is not one against the other, but it is really hard not to feel small when you're taking a difference and it's actually a difference in 30 students because our EEC numbers do bring us up to So, we're talking about 30 difference in students and you're picking one community to keep open. You've had these changes in plans and like I said, this isn't even what I was planning to speak on

126tonight. I had all these other things to talk to you about when it came to like teacher processes with this change, but I feel I feel really strongly after the emotion in the room that it needs to be said out loud that we do feel like you have totally ignored us and that you're going with the people who have been on the news repeatedly and I actually called the news and they didn't want to do a story on Granite. So, I just want to put this out there that you have kind of created this and it feels it feels sad for us. Like the the feeling in our school is that we weren't loud enough. And so, that wasn't very eloquent. I didn't have any I didn't have chat GPT to help me with that,

127but it's the true emotion of what teachers in our building are feeling and it's a bummer. So, thank you for your time. Okay, thank you. Catherine Torello and then Jared Herbert. Hello, my name's Catherine Torello. I'm a mother of a first grader at Willow Canyon. And I wanted to just say thank you for your time and for your service to the students and families of Canyon School District. I understand the challenges the district is facing with enrollment shifts and I recognize that consolidation may be a necessary step. I appreciate that our current school site is being considered for that consolidation. However, I have concerns about the longer term plan to potentially build a new school at another location and close our elementary school in the future. Before making a decision that would permanently close a

128neighborhood school, I ask that the board take a closer look at the opportunities to strengthen our current strengthen enrollment at our current site. Across Canyon Canyon School District, some schools are thriving in part because they offer specialized programs such as dual immersion and Salta, programs that attract and retain families. These programs create strong, engaged school communities and help balance enrollment. So, I ask, why not consider bringing similar opportunities to our school? Instead of planning for closure, we could invest in growth. Adding a dual immersion program or Salta program at our site would increase enrollment, support diverse learners, and make better use of an existing school that already serves a vital part of our community. Closing a school doesn't just shift numbers, it impacts students, families, and the identity of an entire neighborhood. If there are

129options that that allow us to address enrollment challenges while preserving our school, these options deserve full and thoughtful consideration. I respectfully ask the board board to pause before moving forward toward closure and explore program-based solutions that can strengthen our school and better balance enrollment across the district. Thank you for listening and for the consideration of the voices of our community. Okay, thank you. Jared Herbert, and then Taylor Burkhow. Good evening, members of the board. I'd like to speak tonight about the latest change regarding the Parkland closure. The fact that the district is now proposing to table the recommendation to close Parkland shows that the concerns raised by this community over the last 10 months were valid. However, another pause is not a solution. Another pause is not reassuring. Another pause is just a delay designed

130to keep this proposal alive. Another pause keeps Park Lane as the default target for closure. And at this point, another pause is not acceptable. It is exhausting for the families who have been living in this uncertainty for nearly a year. And when you're asking them to carry that burden for another 2 years, would it be unreasonable to terminate this proposal completely instead of tabling it? Do the necessary studies. Look at the district as a whole. And then, when you actually have the information, bring forward a real solution. And if that process shows that closing Park Lane is truly in the best interest of students, families, communities, and the district, that is something I could support. But what I cannot support is keeping a flawed proposal alive without clear justification and full understanding of its impacts.

131Thank you. Thank you. We now have Taylor Burkhow and then Brienne England. What am I going to say? Not even I know, so. Um I just I've been I think to every single board meeting um in the last 10 months. It's been a really uh interesting process to observe and I've honestly learned a lot. Um I've appreciated some of the individual conversations I've had with each of you and have learned a lot about some of the mechanics of how difficult these decisions are. Um and I I think the takeaway that I've I've if I could summarize a takeaway over the last, I don't know, 10-ish months, um is that there's a lot of understandable frustration from a lot of different communities. Um and I think what everyone wants is just to see that we have

132a a long-term solution and strategy to this problem. I understand it's a real problem. I understand that we have funding issues, that we have political pressure, that we have pressure from uh private schools and charter schools, and we have enrollment decline, and and housing and cost increase. I understand all those things. Those things make sense to me, and I understand that those are real problems. Um what doesn't feel like a really pro- proactive solution to me is just closing schools. And what I would really hope for um from the board is just more proactive solutions. A couple people have mentioned here tonight, um just comments about innovating in our schools. I've had fairly in-depth discussions with a few of you about some of those ideas, low-tech options, you know, other other things. And I think

133that's as a future potential patron of the district for like the next 20 years, like that's what I'm hoping for from from this committee. And if you're going back to redraw the plan and going back to the drawing board, um can we have discussions about something other than just closing schools and figure out how we can be proactive with this um enrollment issue rather than just reactive to it. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Uh now, Breanne England. Hi. Uh for the past 9 months, the Granite community has participated in this boundary process in good faith. We've shown up, listened, and provided thoughtful input. Throughout all of this, our top priority has been stability. Keeping our gen ed and EEC community intact and minimizing disruption for our children. We have faced three, four, five, I don't

134even know how many proposal changes um throughout this process. And these proposals have not only been about closing our school, but dividing our community among multiple elementary schools, removing our children from their current middle schools, and putting their high school paths in limbo. This has been incredibly difficult on our families. I want to be clear tonight. Our community does not want Granite to close, and we are not getting everything we want, despite what our neighboring community may think. However, many families feel pressured to accept the reassignment to Quail Hollow out of fear. Fear that if we don't accept it, we could face even more disruptions in our boundary. We made a conscious effort to remain respectful, civil, and cooperative throughout this process, and it's discouraging to now feel that that approach may have worked against

135us. When we look at what's happening with Park Lane, their proposal being paused while Granite moved forward, it creates a troubling perception, which is the loudest and most combative voices are rewarded. I've attended nearly every board meeting since September. I've listened as the Park Lane community has rejected solutions, criticized others, and at times attempted to involve Granite students in their proposals. While they speak about preserving their community, they have not hesitated to drag ours through the mud and try to disrupt our community. I'm very upset to see that there is yet another change to our proposal to change to table the change of the Raintree area to Brighton boundaries. This is a request that the community has made for the last 15 years prior to this boundary study. Please put that back on the table

136and move forward with that as soon as possible. I appreciate what you guys have done. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Um also just thank you to all those who have who have participated tonight in our patron comment. So, the next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. And I will now take a motion to approve that and also please read all the items individually. I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda for tonight. Item A, approval of minutes for April 21st, 2026. Item B, approval of hire and termination reports. Item C, approval of purchasing bids. Item D, approval of administrative appointments. Item E, approval of LEA specific endorsements. Um I just noticed that we need the trust land and TSS P plans on consent. That was last week. >> right? >> [clears throat]

137>> No, we that had been signed by two board members. Did we only need to do it one time? I think it's just one time. Okay, great. Then we don't need to change that motion. Okay. We have a motion. Is there a second to that? I'll second that motion. Okay, thank you. Is there any discussion to the motion? Okay, seeing none, I will call for a vote to approve the consent agenda. All in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Okay, that motion passes unanimously. We are now on to new business and item A is the long-range planning committee um update and it is the third reading with action requested. This will be presented by Leon Wilcox, business administrator. Thank you President Shill and also thank you to all the patrons who came and addressed us

138tonight and who have come in throughout this last year. We agree it's been a long process. No one wishes we were not in this situation more than us. I I assure you that and with this declining enrollment, uh trying to come up with the best solutions long-term for our students and our school communities. Uh >> [clears throat] >> just a brief update where we've been. The proposals, we call them proposal A, proposal B, we introduced back in January, January 20th. That started the 90-day required notice if you're going to close a school. Uh we had the two required hearings in March at Parklane and Granite and at Granite a second reading on the 31st and then bringing us tonight. Again, we want to emphasize any consolidation would be in for the 27-28 school year. Everything

139will remain in place for this upcoming school year, the 26-27 one. Many of these slides we've just taken from the March 31st, but just to recap the public hearings, some of the themes we heard was keeping the EEC together at Granite. We've tried to do that, so it lines up with Albion and Brighton moving forward. Uh we heard a lot about class sizes, trying to keep them small. Uh also uh preserving an elementary foothold on in East Sandy was important as that would make a vacant area, we know that. And also keeping school communities together. All these themes uh we heard. We also heard a lot of those back in the fall. Again, we appreciate all those who did come out in to our hearings at both in the fall and in March. Just to

140say this is proposal A where we would combine Granite and Quail Hollow. Want to emphasize that the southern portion, there's about 30 of students who would go to Lone Peak Elementary. That does line up where they would go to middle school at Indian Hills. The remainder of Quail Hollow would go to Amino Grande would go to Quail Hollow in the Quail Hollow building. Class The estimated enrollment of that school when it opens in 2027-28 would be about 505 students plus the 40 EEC. You can also see our again our facility condition index of the schools there. Uh the Bell we try to get as detailed map as we can. If you have questions, if you live up in that areas, please let us know. The Bell Canyon area would continue with Granite Elementary into Albion

141if the proposal goes through, then all those south uh going into Lone Peak. Again, we wanted to emphasize keeping communities together. The Albion Brighton feeder pattern uh and then you know, central access moving and then moving on to Albion with that. And also support our full grade level staffing and team, you know, where our teachers can really collaborate and do try to do what's best for the kids. Uh trying to get three grades, maybe four grades or four classes per grade moving forward. Uh again, Quail Hollow just to emphasize the building. I do appreciate really appreciate the the EEC teacher spoke to us so we can know some of these issues on the playground. Uh we'll need to know more as we move forward with this over the next year. Uh we can accommodate the

142students there without the portables without adding more portables. It should be noted Quail Hollow already has one. That's for its theater class that would remain. Uh it has 27 classrooms. We would need roughly 22 for the gen ed and three for the EEC. Our estimated class size is around 23. And the ABS unit that is at Quail Hollow would have to relocate, but we could look at keeping at least two of the preschool classes that are there uh being able to stay, which we were we're hoping to do. Again, this chart shows that uh I will point up here. It should be said that, you know, Granite has a uh a very large third-grade class moving into fourth grade next year and then into of course fifth grade that first year at Albion if this

143proposal goes through. Uh so, again, this right here is what we're looking at 20 roughly 22 classes and around 23 per class. Again, that will vary uh across the board there. Uh looking like large class sizes at in grade five that first year. But, then the others smaller. Again, the portable would stay that houses the the theater. The theater boosters. Uh as we've heard last time at the March 31st meeting recommending tabling proposal B, that would be the Park Lane Willow Canyon consolidation. So, both schools would remain in operation for next school year 26-27 and also for the following school year 27-28. Any future proposal or consolidation will have to follow the state code. You can see it listed there, which is the 90-day notice. And then we'll go through our three board meetings three

144reading process at that time. As we move forward, uh again, we've heard from the Raintree area. We want to emphasize we need to provide proper notice uh of that. And we need to do that to both the Jordan High and to the Brighton High's feeder system under the state code before we can go forward with that. So, that is that reason why we are tabling that right now. Board can always make a motion to start that, even tonight if they wanted to. Just so you know that. Uh Again, we want to emphasize that proposal would be effective for the 27-28 school year. The proposal we had on again on March 31st was also effective for that school year. Uh as well, so there's that and and again, we want to emphasize we are doing a

145we are consistently looking at a comprehensive review of our middle and high schools feeder systems. You know, this is far more complicated than it sounds because of our declining enrollment. We expect uh the next couple years our in our outgoing seniors will be around 7 to 800 more than our incoming kindergarteners. Right now, we're around 31,500 students and about 5 years, we're looking to be around that 26,000 range. That poses lots of challenges in all of our communities and all of our schools as we face this declining enrollment. It is not a Canyons problem. It's not a Salt Lake County problem. It's a Utah problem and it's a nationwide problem. Just uh you know, with housing prices, birth rates, changing demographics, all those play into a role there. So, we'll continue to study that and

146bring proposals forward, but again, want to emphasize that will be happening this upcoming school year. I don't see us really bringing a big proposal until probably the end of next school year, but we will see and keep the board updated as we move forward with that. So, with that, I can take any questions. That's the end of the presentation or just the board can have its comments. Okay, board, are there any questions? >> [clears throat] >> Okay. So, um we can have discussion right now. We could make usually, I mean, we can make a motion and then discuss the motion. So, whatever whatever the board wants to do at this point. Anyone want to make comments? Mr. Eddel. Oh, I thought you were >> [laughter] >> Okay, I thought you were turning on your light.

147So, Mr. Eddel. Uh I'd like to make a motion. Uh I move effective for the 2027-2028 school year that we approve the south section of Granite Elementary being included in the Lone Peak Elementary boundary. Okay, thank you. We have a motion. Is there a second to that motion? I'll second that motion. Okay, thank you. We have a motion and a second. That is to effective for the 2027-2028 school year we approve the south section of Granite Elementary being included in the Lone Peak Elementary boundary. Uh Mr. Eddel, do you want to start the discussion or since you made the motion? Yeah. Uh I uh I'm going to read some stuff cuz it's it's it's a little more eloquent that way and uh my statements will be for the the entirety of this motion. This this

148has to be brought up into uh two pieces uh because of what's happening. But, I want to say that tonight's decision is not an easy one. School closures and boundary changes affect real families and real neighborhoods and schools that people deeply care about. We've heard um so many public comments uh and community feedback about how much people do care about their schools, their school communities, uh and the amazing quality education they get within Canyons School District. I want to acknowledge that regardless of where people stand on this proposal, there are parents, students, staff, and community members experiencing um a variety of real emotions this evening. Throughout this process, my preferred long-term solution would have been to combine Granite and Park Lane while re-aligning the secondary boundaries into the Eastmont and Jordan feeder Jordan feeder system.

149I continue to believe strongly that we must support and strengthen our secondary feeder systems as an essential part of the overall health of our schools. When one part of a feeder system struggles, the impacts are not isolated. They affect students, programs, enrollment patterns, and long streams to long-term stability across the system. That said, while this proposal is not fully aligned with the direction I would have preferred, I recognize that it reflects significant community input and represents a step forward in addressing important challenges facing our schools. I also want to thank the many parents, staff students, staff members, and community members who participated in this process. Local governments work best when people engage. Advocacy matters. Public input matters. And while there are strong and varied opinions throughout this process, I appreciate hearing perspectives from across the

150spectrum. I also think it's important to remember that a few difficult interactions should never define an entire community. Passion and advocacy are part of public service, and our responsibility as a board is not to react to who is loudest, but to carefully consider the full picture, the long-term impacts, and the needs of the district as a whole. These decisions are difficult because our communities care deeply about their schools. I genuinely appreciate everyone who took the time to participate even when we disagreed. Okay, thank you. Mrs. Nyberg. Thank you. I have some prepared comments, and then I will I will just say some things. Um in March, I said the following, and I just want to repeat it. The ultimate measure of a leader is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but

151where they stand at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King Jr. said that. We are in very difficult times. Our district is facing declining enrollment in all of our elementary schools. That slide just a few pages before that shows that the kindergarten and first grade grade classes only have 17 children. That drastically impacts what we can do. Um I sat through a meeting with the uh she's a consensus statistician and strategist and this was 5 years ago and she said, "Look out Utah. Birth rates are trending the national rates. It's going down. It's drastically going to impact our state." That was 5 years ago and now we're seeing it in fruition. So, this is difficult times because um none of us wants to be in the business of closing schools, especially me. I have

152seven children and I've been impacted by boundary changes several times in my mothering life. Um there are many reasons why we're feeling this impact. It is the declining birth rate. It is the affordability of houses. It is changing demographics. It's also competition from alternative schooling systems and um different legislative pieces that are pulling money from public ed and doing um um putting it elsewhere for alternative systems. This last year as we've been considering these con- this this whole um very difficult um situation with consolidations and closures, uh my most [clears throat] um permeating thought is I want to make sure that we're we're not just taking the path of least resistance, that we're looking at a system-wide approach. There was a parent comment in one of our last community input meetings that said, "Why are

153we not looking at a district-wide approach and looking at boundaries and a boundary study?" Um that really resonated with me because I I believe all of my fellow board members feel the same. We want to try to stabilize our neighborhood schools as best as possible to shore them up and to keep them um vibrant. And and maybe we can better accomplish that if we also just look at a district-wide study of where new builds are going on and how to slightly adjust boundaries. Um however, even even slightly adjusting boundaries, there is still the collateral damage of the declining birth rate and the affordability. And it is also there it's also very damaging to just keep kicking the can down the road. It's really hard to do hard things, but also hard things create a space

154and an opportunity for growth. Kicking the can down the road is not a peaceful place to be. I know our community has spoken very clearly, and I am an advocate for a three-pronged approach. I do think we need to look at boundaries in the elementary schools. I do think we need to look um at careful carefully look at where we need to consolidate. I also think we need to look at at um and at innovation and programs because at the end of the day, these birth right these birth rates, not birth rights, but these birth rates are also going to drastically impact our future because no matter what lines we draw, at the end of the day, we're a parent right parent choice state, which means you can choose where you go to a certain

155extent. And if all of our our numbers are dropping everywhere, it doesn't matter what boundaries we draw. At the end of the day, it's it's programs that are going to keep people there. Um but then we also just have the general population. So, I think I I wanted to I wanted to address um the Granite community. Thank you for coming out. I hope I hope I I was very concerned with a the comment of that you were told that if you were respectful that it would go better for you. Um I take real objection to that. Um we are trying and and I I I know my fellow board members. Uh I think it would be ridiculous to assume that we can become personally offended and that we're going to somehow make a decision that's

156not best if if you're disrespectful. I I don't mind parents coming and being upset for the changes. I don't mind I I I I think all of the all of the comments have been very civil and very respectful. And even even if you come and you're upset with what's going on, I understand. And uh this is the position you're in and this is the position we're in. So, for any of us to take that personally and change the outcome of a school and a community based on um the tone of your comments, I I just I just want to formally say I reject that and I I don't believe that that's what this board is or who any of us are. We care deeply about you. We care deeply about the students. We're just in

157a difficult situation. Um I with the phase the next phase with long-term planning, some things that I would like to add, I think I think we started with elementary schools and looking at elementary schools. I think we need to continue to look at elementary schools. We have um focus on long-term align alignment. Um I like I like that positioning schools for long-term enrollment and community stability and district-wide patterns with feeders, but we have as a bullet bullet point number two, review of middle and high school feeder systems. I think before we review the middle school and high school feeder systems, we got to focus on the elementary schools with what's happening and continue with that study. Um, and then with the boundaries if we're doing a a system-wide boundary study approach, I just I don't

158want to lose focus of what's going on at the elementary schools cuz that's that's what needs the oxygen very first. Um, we will have that trickle effect at the high schools, but for right now it's our elementary schools that are struggling the most that way. So, I would just I and then the the other the other thought I have is I do agree and I understand Granite community saying, "Wait a minute, this is a slightly different proposal. We thought by making this move we were going to secure our feeder system." So, I think that's a very valid concern and we should have discussion about it. Okay, thank you, Mrs. Dolly. I move to make a substitute motion to table proposal A for the consolidation of Granite to Willow Canyon or to Quill Hollow for the

15927-28 school year. Okay, so you want to just hold that motion. Or your substitute motion is for us not to move forward with that. So, it would not be effective. Is there a date or anything or we're just we're just basically putting that on pause? I'm just pausing it just like we are with the Park Lane one. I've um part of this is I agree with our Granite community that we have uh we had talked about changing the high school boundaries as part of this and that the fact that that is not going forward right now, I think it's it's reasonable to to pause and come back to this next spring. I understand I'm really big on physical responsibility. I understand we need to be wise with our money. Um and you know, this declining

160enrollment, these things are real. Our birth rate dropping, our declining enrollment, it does impact our students, it does impact our teachers, but our community, you have been loud and clear to say we really want to see a more comprehensive district-wide study. And I think if we're going to pause one adjoining area, we should pause both and come back and look at high schools, middle schools, and elementaries all together. And so our community can trust us in this long-range plan moving forward. Understanding it's going to be it's going to be hard, it's going to be painful at some of our schools with some large class sizes in the meantime. Okay. So, we have a motion to um basically pause that and not move forward with it for 2027-2028. So, is there a second to that motion?

161I'll second that motion. I I get it. So, who was first? Mrs. Mrs. Pederson. Okay, we'll go with Mrs. Pederson. Okay, Mrs. Dolly, do you want to make any more comments to um your motion? I mean, you already stated it, but Okay. Uh board, now we can have discussion to that motion. So, who would like to discuss that motion? Um Mrs. Pederson. I support putting some more time between our decision for both communities. It's it's only the fair thing and we honestly have expanded our view. We didn't start that wide, but we can see with all the input that we've had from our communities that it's a necessary thing to be long-term. We don't want to do patchwork and have to mess it all up again. So, giving ourselves at least a year and then

162knowing maybe in the second year what to expect cuz you're going to need to know that. I think will help the communities to be to be feel more secure. We're not saying we can't change it or we're not going to do anything. We're going to have to do something, guys. But I think we need to make sure that it's thoughtful after we've studied a bigger a bigger section. I am um not thrilled that we have to put it off because I know it is going to be tough. It's going to be really hard. Especially, I think Granite's going to have a struggle. I worry about you, but I also love you. You know, I care about what how you feel about your schools. I really do. About your students. And I think that we will

163do what we always do best. We'll get through it and the district will support you in in doing that. Um I just know that whatever we do, we need to make sure our focus is on what is best for our students. Not what's best for the community or not what's best for the exact, you know, a specific school, but ultimately overall, what is going to sustain our great schools? We have great scores. We have great programs. We need to do some We need to make sure that whatever it is we do, we're not killing those programs. They may have to adapt in the future. Everything's going to have to adapt a little bit, but we want it to be more thoughtfully done. So, I support the pause for both communities so that we can get

164a bigger picture. We literally have not had time to have one for you because in the beginning we were just trying to solve the problem of poor, you know, really low schools. And then it's expanded and we've learned a lot from you. We appreciate all the input. It's really has been very helpful and it does point us into things that we need to really really look at. So, um that's my opinion. Okay, thank you. Mr. Lewis. All right. Uh in a previous board meeting, I uh signaled support for the proposal as it was stated. Uh since that board meeting, it appears that now we are going to move forward with an entire system-wide review of all of the boundaries. I do I can support delaying the Granite and Quail Hollow consolidation until this study has

165been done. Um Granite and Quail Hollow still will be part of the solution as every school will be. Every community will be part of this solution. Unfortunately, the fight is not over, but now Granite and Quail Hollow can feel as if a fair shot and fair consideration has been given. I will support uh Katie's substitute motion. Okay, any other discussion, board? Mrs. Oaks? Okay. So, if there's proof for anyone about the fact that we do not come in here with preconceived conversations and have determined things as a board, it would be this moment. Just please remember that for a second because this is a like a big shock to me actually compared to our last meeting, and we haven't had those conversations behind closed doors or anything. Um couple things. So, about 20 years ago,

166a film a documentary that was filmed in 2007 and and released in 2008 that um featured a Nobel laureate named Gary Becker. It was entitled uh the documentary was entitled Demographic Winter. At the time that the film came out, I don't know if anyone's seen it. I'm kind of a nerd that I've even seen it, but um there was a lot of pushback and a lot of criticism, and they said, "Oh, this is crazy. Like they're so doomsday." But everything that was presented in the film was an analysis of what happens in industrial countries when their birth rate starts to dramatically drop. At that time we'd already started to see birth rates declining in Europe. Latvia, I think for instance, by that point had lost over 25% of its population in a decade. Um, and

167we seemed like as the United States we were well a ways off from seeing that kind of thing happen. Fast forward to now. Everything that they talked about in the film we're seeing. And we're seeing in spades. This is not even just a Salt Lake County, Utah, United States problem. It is a global problem. If you don't believe me, go look up birth rates for countries like South Korea, Japan, Italy. It's a it's pretty astounding and it's happening everywhere. It's even starting to happen in Latin America. Um, and in accordance with that, countries, you know, governments, they're they're spinning their wheels about how to respond. Especially how do you keep up things like infrastructure for declining populations to that extent. Um, fast forward to our situation here. I, um, I have a lot of reticence

168about the substitute motion for various reasons. One is this is going to, um, result in tax increases. That's one thing that we have to look at. Um, I know that the discussion was brought up about like things with capital expenditures, improvements on schools and things like that, and how come it that doesn't just crossover to classroom money. It doesn't. Um, that's really tightly controlled by the legislature. We need to clarify that again and again and again. Um, anything that we do to improve buildings cannot be used in the classroom. And it is the state legislature that essentially defines how big a classroom size is and how much they are willing to pay for a teacher for that classroom size. I would highly recommend everyone in this room and concerned with this issue to pay attention

169to that when the legislative session comes up again or talk to your legislators. Please communicate with them. When we talk to them about this, they are tired of hearing from the same people and the same faces, but they care about you. They really do care about you and your teachers aren't really it's difficult for them to go up and testify up there. I don't know if you know this. This is just a side thing you should all be aware of. They have to like take a day off and get a substitute, pay for a substitute to go up there. But as a parent, if you can go up and testify or communicate with your legislators, that goes a long ways. So, that's another point I wanted to make. Another concern I have with the substitute

170motion is that this is going to make it very difficult for the principal and administration at Granite. We have heard from your community before. Some of you have come and talked to us before about the difficulty of being able to maintain FTE having teams you know, exist where there are two classrooms for every grade and and making all of those things happen. That's a legitimate concern. And this is absolutely kicking the can down further. In fact, I personally believe that if I and it doesn't seem like we have the votes to back it up, but if we were to combine Granite and Quail Hollow tonight, my prediction is is actually your school community would be significantly better off in three to five years than the Park Lane community would be for the delay. And that's

171something you really need to think about. Um does that mean we shouldn't do a district-wide study? No, I I think it's a good idea. But every year I like what Mr. Wilcox said, that we lose that many students, this becomes a more and more of a difficult issue, and it's going to involve more and more angry parents. And if we think it's complex tonight, it doesn't hold a candle what it's going to be later. Um Another thing to consider, um one of the communities that's not represented here that I had conversations with at some of the community meetings is Kual Holo. When they took a look at the class sizes that have existed at Granite Elementary, I had parents come up to me that were angry. They felt like it was patently unfair that our

172district had been subsidizing such small class sizes at Granite Elementary for so long. While some of their class sizes had been on the larger end. And there's a certain amount of merit to that. We have been subsidizing. We have been trying. We have been trying to put our fingers in the dam for a long time, but it's starting to get harder and harder with it. Declining enrollment is extreme as it's become. Um You guys are not the only ones having these conversations. I know that there's kind of this thought that somehow things are always the grass is greener somewhere else. You know, schools with programs. I'm going to give you an example, Lone Peak Elementary. Um we're talking to them about significant adjustments with their um Chinese immersion program because of the loss of enrollment.

173Man, that was a hard meeting. Lots of angry parents, lots of upset teachers. The none of this is easy for anybody. Because at the end of the day, we we wish we could keep all of it afloat, but there's only so many resources. Um I do want to emphasize something that Mr. Wilcox talked about before that the rain tree piece, the reason that was changed is because of the notice requirements that we were required to do as a district. Um, it wasn't that we're trying to make life harder for anyone or or pull the rug out for anybody. We really are just trying to be above board with our legal requirements. Um, at the end of the day, I I'm willing to support the substitute motion. I'm exceedingly nervous about what this larger study is

174going to look like and how that's all going to roll out. We might be burned in effigy, but I mean, it's going to be rough. I'm not lying. I mean, it because it's not going to just involve one corner of the district. It will involve everyone. So, um, anyway, I I want to support my fellow members of the board that have been on the long-range planning committee. This is part of why I'm I'm changing what I originally planned to vote for tonight, in part because I know that they have spent hours and hours and hours and hours of effort and have a lot of time, effort, and sweat over this, and I recognize that you guys have a better, um, picture and perspective on all of these issues that I do, so I'm willing to

175defer to that. But, it's a cautionary warning. This issue is not going away. Um, I wish it were. I wish we had another baby boom in Utah. But, I don't foresee that happening anytime in the near future, so anyway, thanks. Okay, Mr. Edel. Oh, you know what? Let Let me go first, cuz I haven't said anything yet. Is that all right? I like it when you talk. Everyone speak once and before people get twice. Um, so I I'm I'm wondering, Mr. Wilcox, if you'll go back to the slide with the numbers. So, the whole Let me just remind us where we started this. We started this when Granite came to us because they didn't have two teachers per grade. Okay, and look at these numbers. I mean, there we already voted to close Bella Vista,

176which actually had more students than Granite does. And the whole reason why we're doing this is because of of the numbers of students. And I voted to close my own elementary school because I 100% believe that is what is best for kids. And last night we had the Bella Vista It was a memory night. I went to it. And one of the teachers from Bella Vista came up to me and she said, "You guys made the right decision." She said, "It is not best for kids to have these really low numbers. There's not the supports. There's not the team teaching." I mean, I'm just saying I I I don't know what I'll do cuz like Like Amanda said, we weren't expecting this motion like at all. [laughter] I haven't even had time to think about

177it. Um but I do worry about the sustainability like I mean, I do. And it was brought up. I want to like just kind of address the whole capital funding issue. So, people keep saying about the Innovation Center. We purchased that and we're retrofitting that with the sale of other surplus properties. We also got a $17.2 million grant from the state. So, um and also those are one-time capital funds and they cannot be used for ongoing. So, we can't keep a school open using that money. Um and that's just um by law even we have to do that. So, um I don't know. I I honestly don't know how I'm going to vote. But >> [laughter] >> I just had to bring up those facts because I mean 17 kindergarteners and 17 first graders I

178mean that's going to be really hard. It's going to be really hard. Okay, Mr. Ettle. Um so I literally had a script. Um just I know we've been >> possible motions. >> [laughter] >> Uh cuz I know people have accused us of of you know pre-deciding everything in the background and the rubber stamping it. So just to mention what some of my other fellow board members have said, I was not expecting this meeting to take this turn. Uh with that I had I had previously mentioned um that the current proposal was not my ideal proposal. Uh and my major concerns have been our secondary feeder system as a whole. So I think it's important to point out that we do have declining enrollment. Um we can't poof new students into existence. We can't wish that

179there were more students. We can't um we we like we can't change the actual number of kids that exist. Um no matter what we do and no matter how awesome it is, we can't change that. Even even if the legislature were to pass a law that closed all private schools and all charter schools, we would continue to have declining enrollment in the state of Utah because there literally isn't enough kids being born here. And that will never change. Um right now, right for that fact. Uh you guys could have more kids. >> [laughter] >> Everyone here is doing a great job. But our problem will continue to exist where we're going to have to continue to consolidate schools. And that's just that's just a hard reality of life. And as I mentioned before, we've heard

180a lot of a lot of input on how amazing our schools are. And I'm going to tell you that your schools are going to continue continue to be amazing and things are going to shift and things are going to change. And the parents are going to have some difficulty adjusting because they don't like the new traffic flow into the new school, but the kids will make friends and the kids will have fun. And the kids will continue to thrive just as kids do. No matter how we go. I think that if we table this to look at system-wide changes, first off, I I support that. And I had mentioned that earlier, but but here's the reality of the situation that I think every single person in this entire room needs to understand. Communities will not

181stay together. Schools will not move in their entirety to new boundaries. Areas will be carved out. And this process will get significantly harder. It will be so much more painful. I think that the system will be better. And I think that no matter how it goes, the kids will thrive. Um children adapt really well to things. And I believe that they'll continue to adapt to what's happening, but I just I want to throw that out to everybody in this room that system-wide changes are absolutely needed. I fully support system-wide changes. And system-wide changes will be much much much more difficult than any proposal that we've thrown out so far. Okay, Mrs. Snyder. Thank you for those comments. I just wanted to I don't know when long-range planning last met for the proposals that were presented

182tonight. I am in full support of a system-wide approach as you've heard me to say that a lot and I won't repeat. But I would ask the long-range planning to to please move forward with looking at the system-wide approach with out delay because this has been a very painful process for the last year and what Mrs. Oaks said is very true to have um that kinder and first grade at 17 and 17 moving forward that isn't fair or equitable for the rest of our district to have I had in in my neighborhood school that my kids attend my first grader they had 29 kids in their first grade class. So if I I am I am happy for this system-wide approach but I ask please do not delay. This has been a hard situation and

183it's only going to get harder the longer we delay um for us fiscally and and just sustainability-wise. So I'd ask that you please move forward at really looking and please please start at the elementary schools cuz that's where we're feeling the greatest impact right now. So that's it. Okay, thank you. Are we ready to take a vote? Oh, Mrs. Dolly. Just one comment uh to Holly, yes, that is our plan. We have been working on it and uh we will move forward without haste or without delay on this because with haste and to make sure we we get this right. If you remember when we started this study, we identified I think it was eight elementary schools with low enrollment. Bella Vista was sort of on its own island by itself. Like that that made

184sense moving making that consolidation. Granite, Park Lane, Willow Canyon, Quail Hollow, Brookwood, Oakdale, Silver Mesa, East Sandy. All of those have adjoining boundaries and are these declining schools. And so I think in the long run we're better off to look at these holistically instead of just trying to look at one chunk at a time, making sure we get these right. But I agree with Andrew. We may not main maintain schools in the same together. That there's going to have to be some adjustments there for boundaries. There's going to have to be some adjustments at secondary feeders. So we balance those out and look at that for the long long term. And so um but it's going to be a little bit painful in the process with the with a delay with our our small schools.

185And um so just you know, back us on that as we're trying to provide this better better solution. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Lewis. All right. Uh just one more thing. Uh the issue of declining enrollment is a statewide, nationwide, and worldwide problem. We can do something to stem it. Not anyone in this building, but if specifically as what Katie said, most of these schools are in the city of Sandy, right? Reach out to your Sandy City Council member. Reach out to the Sandy City mayor and tell them they need more housing for young people. More work on affordability. Work on the affordability of the city. Allow more families to move in. And then do you know what? We won't have to close schools. We don't want to close schools. We want these schools full of

186kids. It is not our decision that the housing prices in this area are going up dramatically. It's not our fault that there's no new housing being built in this areas. There the average age of these areas are significantly higher than some of these areas that are experiencing declining enrollment at a slower pace. We need more housing in this area. We need more multi-family homes. Please talk to your legislator. Talk to your local city council member, and it's not just a city a Sandy City thing. Talk to them in Cottonwood Heights, in Midvale, and in Draper, too. School declining enrollment will come for us all. Okay, thank you. Um if there's no other comments, um I do have one more comment, and that is when we had the hearing at Granite, the two things you guys

187said to us were number one, keep our community together, number two, keep the EEC with you. That is what we did with this proposal. If If we look I'm we we probably can't promise that at all if we move forward with this. So, just be aware of that. Okay. Um I will now call for a vote. The motion is that we pause for the 20 [clears throat] Oh my gosh, sorry. 2027, sorry, just went So, we pause for the 2027-2028 school year moving the south section of Granite Elementary to be included with Lone Peak Elementary boundary. So, that is the motion. Okay, all in favor say I. I. >> I. Um all up All opposed say no. No. >> No. Okay, so that motion passes five to two. Okay, now we go back to the

188original motion, which was effective for the 20 2027-2028 school year, we approved the south section of Granite Elementary will be included in the Lone Peak Elementary boundary. So, that is now the motion. Are there any comments to that motion or discussion? Okay, seeing none, I will call for a vote on that. All in favor say I. I. >> I. Okay, so three So, Amanda, me, and Holly. That's the original motion. >> the original one. Original motion. Okay, all opposed, say no. No. Okay, so that is Mrs. Petterson. I thought we were I'm sorry. I thought we were voting on Andrew's motion about moving. That is what it was. Oh, so then you voted against your motion? Yes. >> So, Can I say something? Yes. So, I just want to clear up what happened. So, we

189first voted on a motion to pause. >> Yes. >> And then we went back to the original motion that I had made, which was one of two motions that I had intended to make, >> [laughter] >> um to not pause. And so, that that motion was made to not pause, but just for a part of it, because there's two separate things that were happening. And so, that motion failed in a 4 to 3 vote, which means that we're not going to move the south section of Granite Elementary into the Lone Peak Elementary boundary, which goes along with the previous vote that was made as a substitute motion to pause for the moment the Granite moves. My confusion was why you didn't just withdraw your motion. Why we were voting on it. That's why I was

190We've done that, but we had a substitute motion. When you follow rules, you do a substitute, then you go back to the original motion. >> But we could have asked to withdraw, too. Okay. Yes, we didn't. We didn't withdraw it, we just voted on it. So, Okay, so that motion failed. Did you get who voted for that? And who voted against it? Nigh, Barr, and Holly voted for that. Nyeholt. So, there were three who voted in favor. Yes, Holly voted in favor. And then, the other four voted against. Okay, so that motion fails. Okay, so board, are there any other motions? Or discussion, or are we done for the night? Okay. Oh, were you going to say something? No, I won't now. Okay, well, that concludes that. Um >> [laughter] >> That was shocking, anyway.

191Okay, so now we will go on to our staff comments. And, we'll start with our superintendent, Robinson. Um yeah, that Well, okay, fine. Proposal B, I will just make a little statement, and then we'll agree to it, if we need. Um So, if there's no objection, we'll accept the recommendation to table proposal B, the Parklane and Willow Canyon consolidation. Is there any objection to that? Okay, we do not need a motion because we didn't make a motion to say we are going to do it, so we don't need to undo it. So, and that everyone agreed to it, so we are not moving forward with proposal B, either. Okay, Dr. Robinson. Thank you, President Shill. Um first and foremost, thank you again to everybody that came and and shared your thoughts and and feelings. Um

192it's always great to see um communities that love our schools, and I'm one of those that have been a part of Canyon's district from the very beginning, and I'm so proud of what this district does and provides. And, to all of our teachers, it was awesome to recognize our teachers of the year not too long ago, but um just wanted to thank you all for being here. Um really quickly just a couple things that I wanted to um share quickly or just express as first and foremost our appreciation to our ESP employees as well as our licensed employees. Um we recently uh I've been meeting with them and talking about um how we can best improve um working situations for all of them and it was truly a great opportunity and I continue to learn

193from all of them and appreciate their support as well and all that they do for our schools. Um Jeff had mentioned the National Nurses Day and wanted to give a major shout-out to all of our nurses. Oftentimes their work goes unnoticed unless it's during a pandemic and yet um they provide services for so many of our students every single day and it's just greatly appreciated. Um I too was at the Bella Vista memory night. It was great. The energy was fantastic. Um just wanted to um also mention that we have our retirement banquet coming up and there are several people that are going through um that are planning on retirement. And I just wanted to give them a heartfelt thank you first and foremost, especially to those that have helped develop me into the person

194that I am and there are some of those individuals that are in this room tonight and I just want to thank them for what they have done for me um personally and and I wish them nothing but the best in the in the future. And then once again with the Jordan Valley faculty and staff, I remember seeing those those that video shortly after the event took place and it's just awesome to see how our employees rally around each other in in times of crisis and so um lots of amazing things are happening. I can't believe we're here at the end of a school year um and I wish all of our teams and our our departments and everybody that have competitions coming up um the very best in their state competitions. So, thanks again. Okay,

195thank you. Now um our report from our business administrator. Yes, uh, thank you, President Shell. I just want to thank everybody who's been participating with us for the last year. I know this has been a long process. Want to thank everybody on a long-range planning uh, Katie Karen and Andrew. We've met many, many times. We've had many, many agreeable sessions and many, many disagreeable sessions, I think would be fair to say. Uh, uh, uh, moving forward. And And the bottom line is there there are no easy answers. You know, we're we're trying our best. We know this declining enrollment's going to consist and uh, to try to serve the best, you know, our families and our students possible. It's a challenge and we'll we're up to the challenge. We'll keep moving forward and seeing what

196we can do over the next several months that way. Uh, Dr. Robinson mentioned several people who will be retiring. We'll honor them next week. I just got to mention one, uh, Charlotte Graham at East Middle. She is our longest tenured employee. She's been here 47 years at at all at East Middle. It's funny our insurance coordinator, Rob, works across the hall. Rob is only a few years younger than me. Charlotte was there when he went to elementary school. And so that's just a She's just an amazing lady. Apex Award winner this last year, deservedly so. And uh, uh, I you know, I mean East Middle will never be the same without her. So, uh, congratulations to her and there are many, many others and we will all look forward to honor them next week. Thank

197you. Okay, we're going to start our board reports and we will start at this end with Mrs. Nybar. And board, are we okay? Do we want to start our 3-minute timer again or Yes? Yes. Okay, 3 minutes though. We just got a little bit more than you guys. >> [laughter] >> Okay, and this is Nightmar. Just wanted to thank all of our amazing administrators here at the district office for their work and their staff for the Teacher of the Year. That was an incredible night. A special congratulations to Lisa Hayes, our first ever um special ed teacher to be recognized as Teacher of the Year. That's always one of my favorite nights um to hear all the wonderful things the teachers are doing for the kids. Also, a special congratulations to Cami Ali from Draper

198Park Middle School, the school which I represent, and Morgan Hansen from Willow Springs and uh Oakhollow as well. Just great night. Um at this time of year as as we're wrapping up the school year, it it is always present in my mind just the great amount of time and effort all of our staff put into our schools. I was able to run in between the business meeting and the Teacher of the Year ceremony. I missed like the pictures, but over at to the little Willow Springs art show, it was fantastic. Uh ran over there with my my two youngest and and every year um Mindy Vandergriff just puts on an amazing display. I also heard about amazing display over at Was it Draper Elementary with the veterans and the poppies? Lone Peak. Lone Peak that

199did the veterans and the poppies. Uh and paying tribute to them. We just have incredible programs at our schools. There's just magic in the classroom and our our teachers do so much for our children, and I'm so grateful for a thriving community of parents and families who are putting everything they can into these children and our rising generation. It's just awesome to be a part of it. So, I just wanted to thank everyone from our ESP employees, from our facilities people. I see some of you out there. To uh to the classroom, just grateful for for this system and to be able to rub shoulders with all of you. I'm looking forward to graduation. And a time that we get to see our students advance and move forward. So, thank you. Okay, thank you. Mr.

200Lewis. I want to start by saying thank you to each and every single one of you who have attended board meetings over the last year. Tonight is a reflection of what should be clear. We are here to serve and to do the work of the people, even if it is hard. We listened and changed our votes and worked countless hours altering proposals and it is because of your tenacity, nothing is decided without your input. The fight that comes next is hard and nothing is guaranteed. This is a district-wide study meaning every neighborhood, every street is going to be under consideration. And please note that as neighborhoods remain frozen physically in time, so will its residents. Not enough kids will be added to neighborhoods that do not change. Next, I'll share that I attended Union Middle

201School's Cultural Night last Thursday evening. It was an amazing opportunity to experience the amazing and diverse cultures that exist within our school district. I would also like to briefly address the confusion at our last board meeting. What happened was a simple misunderstanding between two board members and a misunderstanding of board policy. I'm grateful that the time was taken to appropriately enforce our standing rules and I would like to thank the policy committee for providing clarity and guidance in our newly adopted policies regarding a future situation similar to this. And last, I would like to address a situation that has been going on for roughly the past month. During the beginning of April, the National School Board Association held their annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. During this conference, the organization the organization's values and beliefs

202guidebook were worked on, tweaked, and approved for the next year. During this conference, a member of the Utah delegation, a member of a school board in this state, made a motion to the body and had it seconded. The motion was to remove the term LGBTQ from its guidebook. Specifically regarding the inequitable access to Medicaid coverage for LGBTQ students. This is deeply disturbing to me. Uh students who are not having their needs met, especially their health needs, are not going to attend school in a state that is conducive with learning. LGBTQ students, just to name a few of the inequities on this issue, face a significantly higher likelihood to be impoverished and homeless, significantly likelier to struggle with chronic illness, face increased barriers such as discrimination from Medicaid eligible providers, restrictions on treatment as a result

203of federal policy changes, and even coverage uh and even with coverage face poor outcomes than our non-LGBTQ counterparts covered by Medicaid. Canyon School District has long been a trailblazer in equal protections and opportunities for all staff and students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2009, fresh off the campaign to split Jordan, Canyons implemented some of the first protections for our staff and students on these bases. The motion was justified at The motion at NSBA was justified by a member who's made this motion insisting that NSBA has been seen as too liberal and must be inclusive to conservative viewpoints. I respect that goal. That is an objectively good goal. However, there are LGBTQ people from liberal and conservative backgrounds and health needs do not discriminate on political beliefs. I'm asking everyone who is listening

204and who feels so inclined to shoot an email to Curtis Whipple on the Wayne County School Board, Jennifer Partridge on the Provo City School Board, and Mark Clement on the Alpine School Board to ask them to reconsider this language at next year's NSBA meeting. Okay, thank you, Mr. Edel. Uh with uh emotions that I'm certain exist, uh I just want to throw out that we could probably all use a hug at this point. Uh and then I do want to say congratulations to uh Angie Holden, our new director of middle schools. I'm super super excited about that. Um we we really have uh some of the best people uh working for our district and for our students. Uh so, congratulations to her. Also, special congratulations to um Amanda Parker and uh as well as uh

205Matt Barilla. Uh and then finally, uh I want to put a thought out uh to my colleagues um who are out in harm's way and uh as well as their families and just ask that uh everyone's thoughts be with them uh and that uh we can have uh a swift and safe resolution to uh unrest that goes uh goes over in the world um that uh they may be safe and return home to their families. Okay, thank you. Mrs. Oaks. Thank you for that, Andrew. I appreciate that a lot. Um I had the opportunity to do a lot that's arts-related the last couple weeks. Um I got to attend a state solo and ensemble. We had a lot of our um our choir and orchestra and band kids that participated. It's such a great thing

206and the music is phenomenal and our district was very well represented. Um attended the arts consortium meeting. We're excited to work um with our communications team to get out to our community at large more of the information about what's the amazing things happening in our schools. All of us know like each of you guys know Park Lane, Granite, Welby Canyon. They're incredible things and we're going to try and do a better job at getting the word out to the community at large so that we can have a better capture rate at the elementary level. Um now that is some of the things that we're trying to do innovatively to to help make a difference. Um I got to attend um a production at Spruce Wood Elementary called the Granny Awards, which was awesome. >> [laughter]

207>> Chri- Christina um Oh, what's Chris Van Dam? She did such an amazing job at um putting together a script of a play that was based off of nursery rhymes and fairy tales and the kids were amazing. They all had their parts memorized. There was so much music. It was really delightful. So they hosted that along with their STEAM night. It was incredible and so much public support. Um I got to attend um Corner Canyon's interior design competition. So some of you might not be aware of it. In CTEC we have a program with our construction program where the kids every year get to build a house from scratch. They get to have the whole experience of pouring the foundation to framing a house all the whole nine yards. And so one of our CTE

208classes at Corner Canyon had the opportunity to um put together design an interior design and um for that and uh and Miss Neighbor and I got to go and judge who would be the winning team to decide what would go inside the house. It was really delightful and they did a fantastic job. Um and then last night uh I got to attend um Draper Park Middle School's talent show in last evening and that was awesome. There's so many talented kids in our community and I want to give a shout out to one of our parents in the community, Janine Day, who is the PTSA president over there. She was saying to me last night, you know, I put a lot of hours into this and neither of my kids even get to you know, are

209participating. She's like, it's it's like that a lot sometimes. I I just really value our parents that are involved in the schools and serve other people like that. Um I know Janine's efforts have really impacted my kids and while I'm serving in this capacity, I recognize there are so many parents that we don't see behind the scenes that are serving that are making a difference. Along with our population decline, one of the declines that we have seen is in PTA participation. And I want to give a shout out to the PTA when and also school community councils, when you're involved in your schools, it makes a difference and it helps you be a better advocate for your child. So, please consider if you're not involved, get get involved. It will make a difference. Thanks. Okay,

210thank you, Mrs. Daugherty. For my fellow board members, I didn't mean to blindside you with a substitute motion, but felt that was needed after hearing from all of the school communities tonight, not just Granite. Tonight, I'm going to go in a more personal direction with my public comments. And pardon me if I get a little emotional. This last week, we laid my 94-year-old grandfather to rest. He was a champion of public education. Born in the Dust Bowl era in Oklahoma, living in a home with dirt floors and no electricity or running water, as a young boy, he had to walk 3 miles each way to go to school and picked cotton to help support his family. He was the first to attend college in his family and went on to spend his career as a

211teacher, a coach, a principal, and served as superintendent of the Klamath Falls City Schools for 24 years. Bops Bops, as we called him, also served a term as the national president of the American Association of School Administrators. My Nana, who was a teacher and librarian, and Bops were champions of education and believed it was an investment in our future as communities and a nation. They believed that education changes people's lives for the better and gives them opportunities to rise above their circumstance above the circumstances they were raised in, just like for my grandfather. So today, I want to thank our teachers, staff, and administrators who, like my grandparents, have given their careers to education and in changing students' lives for the better. Your work is invaluable. I sit in this chair today because of teachers

212that had a positive impact on my life and in following my grandparents' example of being a champion for public education. I hope you hear the gratitude of our community year-round and not just on this week of teacher appreciation, but thank you for what you do day in and day out in providing a wonderful learning environment for the students of Canyons District. Okay, thank you, Mrs. Patterson. Thank you for sharing your personal perspective. That was That was very touching. I appreciate that. Um I want to kind of build on that about teachers. As I dedicated my whole career from age 20 on, teaching. I taught for 41 years for Jordan/Canyons. Yeah. One of my most um enjoyable weeks. I love being with students, and being with students was a reward enough, but I loved um appreciation

213week. It was just cute to have them bring you little flowers that had been picked from the neighbors' gar uh flower beds on their way to school, and the little scribbled notes. Those meant more than any box of chocolates or or you know, some of those commercial things. Those those little love notes from from their hearts. And the hugs you'd get every morning and every afternoon. I taught fourth grade, fifth grade, and first grade. So, I had a a variety. And I I had someone give me one time poster that said, "Teachers um is being a teacher is the choicest of professions because everybody who is anybody was taught how to be somebody by a teacher." None of us would be anywhere without having a teacher in our lives. Whether that teacher is a parent

214at home or a parent, you know, a teacher someone who's given up their lives for their your student. So, thank you. I appreciate this week. It was a fun week for me and it brings back a lot of memories. Second thing I wanted to talk about was um I wanted to commend Eastmont's innovative attendance incentive. They're uh students who are on time and in class, not just in the morning, but in randomly chosen periods during the day get a ticket that can be drawn to attend a field trip. Well, one of their field trips, it was great. One of their field trips and and you're just randomly picked, so you never know if you're going to go or not. And you get a very diverse group. We were able to go to the Mammoth Training

215Center down here in Santee at the mall for the very first field trip that they had ever offered. And it was based on STEM. They talked about angles of of uh hitting shots. They got to get on the ice with sticks and pucks and they saw water cycle in action. They got to see how the Zambonis work. The whole thing and what was your spread and how high you can jump. It was all It was a wonderful experience and I I commend that kind of um involvement. The last one and I want to say in my 30 seconds that I have left. Um I just wanted to compliment the SEC's and principals for the wonderful land trust and TSS TSS P plans that I have been reading. I know they're really exciting. Um, but I

216appreciate that they are putting so much thought into using the money that they receive to directly to create budgets that directly benefit our students. It is amazing to see how thoughtful these people are in using our money efficiently. So, I wanted to say thank you to them. Did it. Perfect. Perfect. Okay. Um, I attended the Canyons View Symphony, but I I Well, maybe I didn't attend it. I watched it on CSDTV. >> [laughter] >> Anyway, and it was amazing. I don't know if any of you guys saw it, but it was super impressive. It sounded like a professional um, symphony. And anyway, it was amazing. I also attended Canyon View Elementary PTA meeting last Friday, and they're just doing such great things for the kids there. Um, I went to Ridgecrest. They had um, DLI

217projects. It was fourth graders and they made dioramas and they were the Chinese students and they had all the younger grades come in and then they were explaining about the diorama and anyway, it was it was really cute. Um, I want So, these are a few things. Um, just board things I need to ask you guys. Um, first of all, when I was at the Bella Vista memory night last night, I was wondering if we should do some kind of gift to all the faculty and staff of Bella Vista from the board. Just to say thank you to them. I know, you know, some are moving to other schools, some are retiring. But, I just thought that'd be really nice if we did something. Okay, you guys are all Okay with that? Okay. Communications will

218take care of that. Um, then also we as board leadership are talking about doing a board round table and we're kind of aiming for August just because of all the travel for summer. And so we have a board meeting August 4th. But then if if we just can't fit it all in, is it possible to do a board round table on August 11th? So we're adding an extra Tuesday in there. Okay, maybe all of you check your schedules and maybe text me. We'll probably just do a regular board time. Anyway, check your schedules. Please let me know if the 11th is a possibility. Um I do want to thank all the parents um for all for being here for the last 9 months. Anyway, we do listen to you guys as you could see tonight.

219We do we did listen in all those hearings. That's the whole reason why we changed all the proposals is we listened to your feedback. And we will continue to listen through this hard difficult um process that we're going through. And I guess this is not going to end. Um >> [laughter] >> I thought we were going to have a break for like a year, but I guess not. Um but anyway, I also want to say thank you to our teachers. Our teachers are amazing and the whole reason why our parents love our schools are because of our teachers. So I want to say thank you to them. Um the last thing I just thought um Mr. Wilcox well, Mrs. Oaks and I bought this for him maybe a year ago and then it's been lost

220in my house and I found it. >> [laughter] >> Anyway, this these are some socks. I just thought he deserves something after this long process. >> [laughter] >> And what it says, I don't know if you guys know, but he loves to tell us dad jokes in board meetings sometimes. And it says ain't no bad joke like a dad joke. Anyway, and that is the end of our meeting. I'll call this meeting to a close. So thank you. >> Okay. Okay.